Split Decisions
by Velkan The Impaler
Summary: When two different ghost armies demand Danny help them fight a war in the ghost zone, who will Danny side with? And how can he even fight, now that his powers have disappeared? COMPLETE, please R
1. They're Watching You

Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any or any of the characters from the show. These characters include Sam, Tucker, Lancer or Danny's parents, or Danny himself.

Please read and review this story. I could always use tips for future stories. Just one thing when writing a review: do _not_ tell me what to put in the story, what to take out, what to change, etc. I outlined this story and I know exactly what's going to happen when writing this, and nothing you say is going to change what I've planned.

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It was a dark reach of the ghost zone. In the infinite abyss where ghosts were the only inhabitants, a looming fortress was hovering. Inside the fort, there was a lot of equipment, some used for torture and some were for convenience. There was a large computer that had any plans or information for the ghosts inhabiting that fortress. There was also a relatively large machine that could hook up to someone. Its purpose, however, was unknown. There was also a large system that could activate a shield around the fort that was impenetrable to pure ghosts.

Inside, there was a room where a ghost staring at a large screen. On the screen, there was an image of a ghost battling other ghosts. The person fighting seemed to be no older than fourteen, but he was beating the other ghosts around like a professional wrestler beating up a four year old.

"My lord," said another ghost walking into the room with the big screen. By saying "My lord", he was referring to the quiet ghost staring at the screen that showed the boy fighting all of the ghosts. "Is that the child you spoke of?"

"Yes, Cobaark," said the ghost watching the screen, not turning away. "That is him. Danny Phantom."

"Lord Myrus," said Cobaark, still watching his lord as he observed the screen of Danny Phantom fighting the ghosts with intensity, "he seems as powerful as you have suggested. The Escerons knew what they were doing when they wished to bring him to fight."

"Yes," Myrus said, not taking his eyes of the image of Danny fighting ghost after ghost. "How fortunate we were to intercept a message from their spies. If we could recruit Danny, then we would win this war for certain."

"Yes, my lord," Cobaark said. He had been so used to calling Myrus his lord that it was now becoming a habit. "But how do we get him? He will likely just fight you. And based on what I've seen in those images, Danny Phantom could smash you just as easily as he could one of those ghosts."

"That is why I have worked out this plan," Myrus said. For the first time in who knows how long, Myrus turned around. He was a tall, dark figure with a black cape and dark red armor. For eyes, he only had two white slits. In fact, he looked much like Cobaark. Cobaark was only shorter and his armor wasn't as dark. Myrus was also easily about six inches taller than Cobaark. "With this plan, we will certainly win the war."

"My lord, what plan have you come up with?"

"You shall wait and see it unfold," Myrus said. "We shall not let the Escerons interfere with my vision of a peaceful world. If we want to defeat them, then we must recruit him. There is no alternative."

"Yes, my lord," Cobaark said, bowing.

Cobaark slowly walked out of the long, dark room and left Myrus staring at the screen once again.

"Yes…" Myrus slowly said as a smile crossed his dark, ghostly face. "We need him."

Saying this, Myrus walked out of the room with his long cape flowing right behind him. He walked down the long way to the door as his boots made thumping noises on the ground. In order for his ideals to work, he would need Danny Phantom. As he had stated many times, there was simply no other way.


	2. Sick and Stressed

It was a gray, dreary, boring Monday in Mr. Lancer's class. Danny was putting his elbow on the table and resting his head on his enclosed fist as Mr. Lancer ranted on and on.

"So, students, I think we can all agree that…" Lancer started. Danny was supposed to be listening to him, but Danny had no interest in what Mr. Lancer was talking about. He immediately whispered backwards to one of his friends, a Goth named Sam.

"Hey, Sam," Danny said. "Do you understand a thing Lancer is saying? I would rather be watching _Barney Goes to New York_."

"Danny, relax," Sam said. "You're better off just trying to follow Lancer. You need to know as much about this as you can, you don't want another 38 on an exam, do you?"

Danny sighed. "Man, that was just plain awful. You're right, I don't want another 38, but what can I do? It's not my fault I'm not interested in stuff written 450 years ago!"

"Danny, will you please stop complaining? I, for one, am trying to listen to Lancer so that I'm ready for whatever pop quiz or surprise assignment he makes us do. You never know what he's going to do."

"Yeah, yeah," Danny said. As he said this, he turned away from Sam and started looking at Lancer towards the front of the class again.

"Thus, students, I think we can all understand why _Romeo and Juliet _is the greatest story of all time. Am I right?" Lancer said with a bright smile on his face. All he got for a reaction was a bunch of bored glares. "Well, I hope _some_ of you were paying attention, because we are going to have a test on _Romeo and Juliet_ this Friday!"

"What!" Danny yelled. "A test? How come you couldn't just skip the test for this story and we can go on and read the next one?"

"Why is that a concern for you, Mr. Fenton?" Lancer asked. "If you were paying attention to the story, then the test should seem like nothing except a long homework assignment that you have to do in school. You _were_ paying attention during our class discussions, weren't you?"

"What?" Danny said, freezing up in nervousness. "Uh, of course I was! I understand that thing completely!"

"Good," said Lancer. "Because I want to have a word with you after class."

"Oh boy," Danny said under his breath as Lancer said this. Danny slowly sunk back into his chair and he suddenly felt like he weighed fifty pounds more. Lancer wanting to meet with him after class regarding a test on Friday could not have been a good thing.

As class ended, Danny went to the front of the room to talk to Mr. Lancer as Lancer had asked. Lancer kept a pretty flat face as he saw Danny walking towards him.

"Mr. Fenton," Lancer said, still sitting at his desk. "We need to talk about your grades. They have been getting worse and worse as time goes on."

"I…I know," Danny said, pretending to be scratching the back of his head. "Look, I know I can do better, and YOU know I can do better. There, can we just end the discussion here?"

"Mr. Fenton, let me show you something," Lancer said, keeping that blank expression on his face. He opened up his grade book and quietly said all the names of the students in his class as he scrolled his finger down the side of the book, looking for Danny's name. "Ah, Mr. Fenton, here we are. Do you remember what you got on your test after we read _To Kill a Mockingbird_?"

"Sure do," Danny said with a glum look on his face. "I got a 38, and you're not going to let me forget it anytime soon, are you?"

"Mr. Fenton," Lancer replied, completely ignoring everything Danny just said, "If you had gotten a grade even _eight_ points higher on that last test, then I wouldn't have to talk to you about this. But, considering that you've done so poorly on the last four exams I've given out, I have to tell you that you're going to fail the class."

"I'm gonna WHAT!" Danny yelled.

"This test on Friday is going to be the last one of the term, Mr. Fenton," Lancer explained, "and if you don't get _at least_ a C on this test, you're going to fail."

"…and if I fail?" Danny asked, obviously very nervous.

"Well, you can either repeat the class next year or you can go to summer school," Lancer told him. "Your choice."

"I don't want to have to do either!" Danny yelled angrily.

"Well then, I would recommend you study for the test, then," Lancer said, closing his grade book and standing up, ready to go to his next period to teach. "You have all week. That should be plenty of time for you to study."

Lancer walked out of the room and left Danny standing there. Danny walked out of the room with a lot of stress on his mind. He didn't know what he was going to do. He had to keep up with his routine of fighting ghosts, but now he also had to study for a test for Friday that would determine whether or not he passed the class.

When lunch time came, Danny sat with Sam and Tucker as usual. They both noticed something was wrong when Danny just played around with his plastic fork by moving food very gently on his plate.

"Hey man, what's eating ya?" Tucker asked, looking at Danny.

"Tuck, I'm in trouble," Danny began to explain. "I'm having a test on some Scottish play this Friday that makes about as much sense to me as the alphabet in Russian, and if I don't get a C or better on that test, I'm either going to have to stay back or I'm going to have to go to summer school."

"That stinks," Tucker said. "Now you're going to have to fight ghosts AND study for a test with your class grade on the line."

"Gee, thanks for reminding me," Danny said glumly, still tapping his food on the plate with his fork. It was a while before Danny finally started to eat some of his lunch. He thought that if he got some food in his system it would make him feel better, but it didn't. At least he wasn't as hungry now.

The day went on, and suddenly Danny realized he wasn't feeling very well. Maybe the stress was getting to him. He would just be happy to get home.

After the walk home from his bus stop, Danny threw his bag down on the ground and plopped down on the couch. He suddenly felt very sick. It had to be the stress, he was feeling perfectly fine earlier that day.

"Hi sweetie, how was school today?" Danny's mom said as she walked in. She saw Danny lying on the couch and that his face looked very pale and his eyes looked bloodshot. After seeing this, she gasped and said "Oh my goodness, what happened? You look awful!"

"Ugh…I feel awful," Danny said in a sick way. Now he barely felt like he had the energy to talk. "I don't get it. I was fine this morning. I had a pretty bad day, it's probably stress."

"Oh, you poor thing," his mom said. "Let me take your temperature." She ran out of the room and came back in a moment later with a thermometer in her hand. She jammed it into Danny's mouth and under his tongue and waited a few seconds. When the thermometer beeped, Danny's mom was shocked.

"Oh…my…gosh!" his mom said. "Your temperate is 102! How'd it get so high?"

"I don't know…" Danny moaned. "I just feel so sick right now."

"Well, you are staying home from school tomorrow, mister!" she said. "I'm going to schedule you for a doctor's appointment tomorrow." Saying this, she ran out into the kitchen and went to the phone.

"Well…at least maybe I'll be able to study for my test a little more tomorrow than I normally would. Maybe some time off from school would be good for my health. Maybe I'll be able to focus more on that play if I get some time off from school."

Right after saying this, Danny's mom burst into the living room. "Honey, you're going to be seeing the doctor tomorrow at 10:30 in the morning."

"Uggghhh…great," Danny said in a sick, painful groan.


	3. Feeling Better?

Danny could barely sleep the entire night. He was tossing and turning and had to get up twice to throw up. He could not remember the last time he felt so sick.

"Uggh…this can't be a regular cold," Danny mumbled as he struggled to get to sleep. It was past 2:30 in the morning and he had barely gotten twenty minutes of sleep. He tried his absolute best, but he was really sick and he couldn't get to sleep.

When it was about 8:00 in the morning, Danny got out of bed but instead went into the living room to just plop down on the couch. He was so exhausted and felt so sick. The only thing that he looked forward to was the doctor's appointment he had. At the time his mom had told him the night before, Danny had to get into his mom's car and sit through the entire ride to the doctor's office.

When they finally got there, Danny could barely muster the strength to get out of the car. He walked into the doctor's office and sat in the waiting room for what felt like forever before he finally got called into the examining room.

"So, you're Danny Fenton?" the doctor asked. He was a man in his mid fifties with brown hair that was slowly turning gray.

"Yes sir," Danny moaned. As soon as he finished replying, Danny started coughing.

"Ooooh, that cough doesn't sound very good at all," the doctor said, pulling on some rubber gloves to begin the examination. "All right, when did you start feeling these symptoms?"

"Well, mainly towards the end of school yesterday," Danny said in a sick voice.

"All right," the doctor said. "And what did you say your temperature was?"

"Over 102."

"Whoo," the doctor said. "All right, let's get through this."

The doctor did a brief examination on Danny, and yet he still seemed puzzled at what could be causing Danny to feel so sick. "Well, I have some good news, Danny," the doctor finally said. "It looks like you're going to be getting better soon. All you'll need is some rest and a few antibiotics. Oh yes, we'll also need to do a blood test to see if we have any ideas how you got this…disease."

"Is it bad?" Danny said, hopping off the examining table.

"No, not at all, we'd just like to see where it started, and a blood sample is a good way to check for it," the doctor reassured. "You're going to be fine. Trust me, okay?"

"All right," Danny said. After the blood test was done, he walked out of the examining room and back out to the front where his mom was waiting.

"They say I'm going to feel better," Danny said. "All I need to do is take some antibiotics tonight and I should be feeling a little better."

"That's wonderful!" Danny's mom said, clasping her hands together.

She and Danny hopped back into her car and after driving to a pharmacy they picked up his antibiotics. When they both got home, Danny got on the couch again and turned the TV on, but now, for some reason, he was already starting to feel better. He could talk without much trouble now, he realized. Not only that, but he could stomach some food.

The day went by and Danny continued to get better and better. He could move around more and he didn't feel like he had to throw up at all during the rest of the day. In fact, for a while, he wasn't even feeling tired.

After taking his antibiotics later that night, Danny felt completely better. It was weird, because the disease seemed to disappear as quickly as Danny caught it. However, he wasn't going to worry about it. He was feeling much better now and he was in a good mood. That good mood soon disappeared.

Danny walked into school the next day and felt like he was on top of the world, now that he was feeling better. In fact, the antibiotics he was prescribed to take for the entire week were working like a charm. Danny even had a bright smile on his face when he walked into Lancer's class that day.

"Well, Mr. Fenton, I see you're doing better," Lancer said. "Were you sick yesterday?"

"Yes, I was," Danny said. "But now I'm feeling all better."

"That's good," Lancer said with a creepy smile on his face. "Because you're going to need to feel your best when you make up the work you missed yesterday."

"And how much was that?" Danny said, still smiling.

"A two hundred word-essay on the significance to life today that _Romeo and Juliet_ shows. And you also missed completing the study guide for the test on Friday. In addition, you might want to give me the homework that was due last week you never handed in."

Danny's face immediately dropped and he looked very depressed all of a sudden. "I have to make up _all_ that work?"

"In addition to studying for the exam in a few days. Do I need to remind you what's at stake if you don't pass this test?"

Danny sighed. "No, I know perfectly well what will happen if I don't get a good grade on that test."

"Good," Lancer said, handing Danny all his make up work. "I'll be expecting all of it tomorrow."

"_Tomorrow!"_ Danny yelled. "That's not enough time for me to make all this up! I need to fight…er, I mean, I got homework in other classes."

"Then think of this as one of those other classes," Lancer said coolly, turning his attention away from Danny and back to the front of the class. "Now then, students, let's talk about the next book we're going to read: _A Tale of Two Cities_!"

Everyone groaned, but no one groaned louder than Danny. Danny was even more stressed out now than he was on Monday. Now he had a bunch of work he missed yesterday to make up, but he also had to worry about fighting ghosts. On top of that, he was going to have an exam in two days that would determine whether or not he would pass the class and year!

Unfortunately for Danny, school would soon become the least of his worries…


	4. Abnormal Ectoplasma

Danny walked into his room after school and threw his books and homework down onto the floor. He sat on his bed and covered his eyes with his hands.

"So…much…stress…" Danny moaned. The stress from school was making Danny's adrenaline so high that he felt like his powers were suddenly much stronger. But then, Danny assumed that everyone felt a little bit stronger when they were really upset.

After thinking about all the work he had to do for a little while, Danny opened up his backpack and pulled out all the work he missed. His first priority was understanding _Romeo and Juliet_ a little better, because failing the test on it would mean failing the grade. Throwing all his other work aside, Danny picked up his copy of the play and started reading it out loud.

It only took a few moments for Danny to get frustrated and make him even more upset and overwhelmed. He couldn't understand a single thing that was written, even with all the glossary words to help him.

After banging his head on the book a few times, Danny's mom yelled up to him "Danny? Are you okaaaaayyyy?"

"Yes, mom," Danny said in an exasperated way.

"Did you take those antibiotics yet?"

Danny sighed. "No, I haven't. I'll take them now."

Danny went over to his night table and pulled out the bottle of antibiotics that doctor gave to him a few days before when he went while he was sick. After swallowing the antibiotic, Danny immediately went back to his work. He got distracted for a moment when he heard the phone ring. He was running to get it until he heard his mom yell that she would pick up the phone instead.

After a minute or so, Danny heard his mom hang up the phone. Danny continued working until he heard his mom yell "Danny! The doctors want to see you again!"

"That's great. When?"

"Now!"

"What!" Danny dropped his books on the floor and started to release a bit of the frustration that he had from all the work. "Why now? How come I have to go to the doctor's now? I'm fine! I'm perfectly healthy!"

"It's about the blood test they performed on you!" Danny heard his mom yell. "The doctors said there was a beyond-normal amount of ectoplasma in your blood! They say that much is normally only found in ghosts!"

Danny gulped. By performing the blood test, the doctors just found out that Danny had way too much ectoplasma in him for a normal human.

"Oh no," Danny groaned. "Are the doctors going to figure out that I'm part ghost from this? Great! Another thing for me to worry about!"

Out of frustration and stress, Danny knocked all his books over onto the floor violently. He then reluctantly went outside to his mom's car as she drove him to the doctor's office. That entire time, Danny was driving himself nuts with all the things he had to worry about.

"_How am I going to get all my missed and regular work done on time?_" Danny thought to himself in the car as his mom was driving him to the doctor's office. _"What if I don't get a passing grade on that test this Friday? Does it REALLY mean I might not be able to go to tenth grade?"_ And now, Danny's new main concern was _"What if the doctors figure out that I really AM a ghost? How will I explain that?"_

When his mom reached the doctor's office, Danny nervously got out of the car and started walking towards the front door. His heart was pounding, he was hoping his secret wouldn't come out during whatever it was the doctor's wanted to do.

It wasn't a long wait for the doctors to get ready for the procedure. When they were ready, they called Danny into a large room. In that room was a large machine, and it didn't look like anything Danny had ever seen before. There were four doctors there: three who Danny had never seen before, and the one who examined Danny two days before.

"Danny, here's what I want you to do," Danny's doctor said when he walked in. "I want you to lie down on the metal table, and we're going to hook these wires up to you until we get a reading on the computer."

Saying this, the doctor pointed to a screen built into the piece of machine. That was apparently the "computer" he was talking about.

"When something appears on this screen, the test will be over," the doctor said.

"What 'test'?" Danny said as he was being strapped down onto the table and hooked up to all the wires and other things. "I thought you were going to tell me something about my high amount of that ectoplasma stuff."

Danny tried his best to make it sound like he had no clue what the doctors were talking about when they mentioned the ectoplasma. He thought that if he made it seem like he didn't know what the doctors were talking about, they wouldn't become so suspicious.

"This is a test," the doctor reassured. "It's supposed to see how a regular human can survive with such high amounts of ectoplasma in their blood. That is, of course you're not _actually _human. You're not some other monster that can survive with that high amounts of ectoplasma, are ya!" the doctor joked.

"What? Me? Heh heh…no way," Danny lied. He just wanted the test to be over and done with, hoping that the doctors wouldn't be able to figure out that he was a ghost. "I'm just a regular, average, everyday kinda kid."

"Well then, let's begin the procedure, shall we?"

When Danny was completely strapped into the machine, the doctor pulled a switch on the wall. Instantly, Danny felt as if thousands of electrical volts were surging through his body. He tried to flop around on the table, but since he was strapped down, he couldn't. He screamed loudly and could be heard over the entire machine rumbling. Even the table started shaking violently from the machine running.

Danny tried to scream for the doctor to turn down the intensity a little, but no words came out. Finally, he heard a loud beeping sound coming from the computer and the machine was turned off automatically.

When the machine finally stopped, Danny's head was spinning. The doctors untied all of the things keeping Danny down and that was the only sound that could be heard, other than the sound of the machine quietly dying down.

"Wonderful!" Danny's doctor said when the test was completed. "May I please see the results?"

One of the other three doctors handed Danny's doctor a clipboard that had the results of the test that had just been done. Danny's doctor had a smiling face, but when he saw the results, he started frowning.

"Oh, dear…" the doctor said. "This won't do at all."

"Hey, what's wrong?" Danny asked, curiously. "Am I free to go?"

"There seems to be a bit of a problem with the forensics of these results. I am afraid that these are inconclusive."

"What's inconclusive?" Danny said. "What do the tests say?"

"We were hoping we could get to the bottom of why you seem to be able to survive with such a high amount of ectoplasma in your blood," Danny's doctor explained. "But these results were inconclusive. We will need to perform these tests again."

"Oh no," Danny moaned. "Why will we have to do them again? Can't we just drop it, knowing I can survive with that high amount of whatever-you-call-it?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Danny's doctor said. "If it is left in our medical records that a patient has a lot of ectoplasma and we can't do anything about it, then we could get sued. We wouldn't want that now, would we?"

"No…" Danny mumbled.

"Splendid!" Danny's doctor said. "Be back here tomorrow at the same time as you got here today so we can hopefully finish up these tests."

Danny groaned, but really had no choice but to accept. When he went the next day, the doctors said that the results were once again inconclusive. Annoyed, Danny had to go back the next day, but not before he had to confront that test.

It was the end of Lancer's class on Friday, and Danny was still struggling with the test. He had no idea what any of the answers to the questions were, and he was no doubt going to fail. And that meant either summer school or repeating the class.

When Danny handed it in at the end of the period, Lancer saw how upset Danny looked about the test. As Danny was walking out of the class with his head down, Lancer made Danny an offer he couldn't refuse.

"Mr. Fenton, would you please come here?" Lancer asked as Danny was walking out the door. Danny breathed out heavily, knowing that there was bound to be trouble.

"Yeah?" Danny said, still looking very worried about the test he had just taken.

"Mr. Fenton, I can tell by the look on your face that you've been trying harder than normal to pass this test, and I know what's at stake for you if you don't do well. So, I am going to do something totally out of my style. If you get a failing grade, I will allow you to retake the test."

Danny was taken back by this and nearly lost his breath. "You…you'll what?"

"I'll let you retake it," Lancer said with a calm face. "And I'll keep the score of whichever test you did better on."

After profusely thanking Lancer, Danny ran out into the walls and felt as if a giant weight had just been taken off his shoulders. He no longer cared that he still needed to take the antibiotics and go to the doctor's office again to have a test taken on his ectoplasma. The doctors didn't seem to figure out that he was half ghost yet, and Danny had his doubts that they ever would.

Now, for the first time all week, Danny could finally relax. He could plop down on the couch after that test was performed on him in the doctor's office and he could just enjoy himself.

After the trip to the doctor's office that Friday, Danny got more good news: Danny's doctor finally got conclusive results so Danny wouldn't have to go through the machine again. The doctor tried explaining why the results were finally conclusive, but Danny didn't understand them, nor did he really care. He was just happy it was finally Friday afternoon and he had nothing more to worry about.

How wrong he was…


	5. Finally the Weekend

Before I begin the next chapter to this story, I want to thank Master of Procrastination for being the only one to have reviewed my story at all so far. I welcome any other reviews, bad or good on my story.

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Danny burst into the front door to his house with a smile on his face for the first time all week. He threw his bag down on the ground and pushed his arms above his head in celebration of the week finally being over. He ran into his room and slammed the door shut. He knew he could make up the test if he did bad on it, but he also had no more homework to do for the weekend. These next two days would be awesome…

Danny knew the first thing he wanted to do when he got inside. After getting into his room, he picked up the phone and immediately started dialing Sam's number.

"Danny, you sure sound a lot happier than you did this entire week," Sam noted when she heard him on the other end.

"Lancer is letting me re-take the test if I did bad on it!" Danny yelled. "This is awesome! I don't have anything to worry about now!"

"You sure seem thrilled," Sam said in her normal tone. "So why'd you call? You just want to tell me how better you were feeling?"

"No, I was calling to ask you if you wanted to come to the mall with me tomorrow. I mean, well, with me and Tuck."

"Sure thing," Sam said. "What time should I be there?"

"How about 11:00?" Danny suggested.

"Sounds good to me. I'll bring some money just in case I find something I want to buy."

"Cool," Danny said. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

Danny slammed the phone down in excitement. He had never been so relieved to be away from school. He thought that this would be the greatest weekend he's had in a while. When he finished talking to Sam, he immediately called up Tucker and offered him the same invitation.

"Sure thing, man," Tucker said. "Man, you sure feel a lot more upbeat than you did this whole week. What happened?"

"Oh, you know the things school does to you," Danny said. "Anyway, Sam and I will meet you at the mall at about 11:00. Maybe we can go to the arcade or something like that."

"Sounds cool," Tucker said. "I'll see you there."

Tucker and Danny hung up their phones. Danny was so excited for tomorrow, knowing that he could relax and be a regular kid for the first time in a few days.

Danny went to sleep that night and didn't remember a single dream he had. He fell asleep easier than he had all week, and he thought he was having a deeper level of sleep. He slept in as late as he wanted, but it wasn't late enough that he missed meeting his friends at the mall.

When Danny got the mall, Sam and Tucker were waiting for him at the entrance. Danny joined up with them and they immediately went inside.

"So, Danny," Sam said as they were walking through the mall, "what made Lancer feel generous enough to let you take the test over?"

"No idea, nor do I care," Danny said. "I just want to enjoy myself the best I can for this weekend before having to go back to reality next week."

"Well, what do you guys want to do?" Tucker said, interrupting both of them.

"Uh…wanna go see a movie?" Danny suggested.

"That sounds pretty cool," Sam said. "But which one are we going to see?"

"How about _Revenge of the Techno-Geeks from Beyond the Moon_?" Tucker said. "That one looks totally cool!"

"…or not," Sam said. "How about that one with the guy who takes a chainsaw and…"

"Maybe one that we can actually get into," Danny said. "That isn't rated R!"

The three of them all thought about it, then they all agreed to see a horror movie entitled _Demons_. According to what the three heard about that movie, it took the Motion Picture Association weeks to decide whether or not it would be PG-13 or R. It just barely stayed at PG-13, so it must have been really violent and gory if it almost got an R rating. Sounded like the perfect movie.

When the three got to the snack bar, Danny ordered himself a large soda and a large bag of sugar munchies.

"Danny, are you sure you want to eat all that?" Sam said. "You know how much that's going to make you go the bathroom?"

"Relax," Danny said. "I'll be fine. Plus, there's only a bathroom down the hall from the movie theater."

"Whatever," Sam said.

The three of them all walked into the movie. That would be the last few normal hours of Danny's weekend.


	6. Invasion at the Mall

Everyone came walking out of the movie theater with gory images in their heads. _Demons_ was one of the most violent movies any of them had ever seen. Of course Sam, Tucker and Danny were walking out of it with huge grins on their faces.

"Wow!" Tucker said. "That movie is probably a million times better than _Techno-Geeks From Beyond the Moon_ would be."

"Probably," Sam said. "What do you think Danny…Danny?"

Sam turned around to find that Danny was running off to the bathroom.

"Danny, where are you going?" Sam yelled.

"To the bathroom! I really have to go!" Danny called back.

"I knew that was going to happen if you drank too much soda during the movie!"

"Don't worry," Danny said. "I'll only be gone a minute."

Danny went into the bathroom and did what he went in there to do. He then went over to the sink to was his hands and even began humming. I guess he wasn't so stressed out as he had been the whole week anymore.

"All right, guys," Danny said, walking out of the bathroom, "what say we go to the arcade now and have a Whack-a-Mole contest?"

However, Danny didn't get an answer. He looked around, waiting for a response. "Hey guys, where'd you go?"

Danny looked around, and Sam and Tucker had indeed disappeared. They were no where in sight.

"Very funny, guys," Danny said, putting his hands on his hips. "All right, come out of hiding wherever you are."

However, there was still no answer from either of them. They had completely disappeared from the crowd. Danny, now starting to get a little nervous, began to suspect that something was wrong. He left the movie theater section of the mall and started looking for his two friends.

"Guys? Where are you?" Danny called. He started running through all the crowds, looking for Sam and Tucker. It wasn't long before he started to see how bad things were getting.

Danny soon realized that everyone was running to the same place. He saw that people were coming from all places to look at something, about fifty feet around the movie theater's section of the mall.

Curious as to what was going on, Danny ran around the corner and saw everyone circling around an area with terror written all over their faces. Danny pushed his way through everyone and saw a tall, dark looking ghost. And right in front of that ghost were Sam and Tucker, tied up and bound together by a rope.

"Where is the Ghost Boy?" the ghost said in a calm, yet very serious tone to Sam and Tucker.

"Probably somewhere on this continent," Sam said with a snobby expression on her face.

"Would you care to give me a bit more specific information?" the ghost said. He took out a giant rod from this armor with a sharp point at the end. The point started glowing, and a ghostly green fire ignited from it.

Sam and Tucker were now obviously terrified. They were tied up, and some nasty-looking ghost they didn't even know was threatening them with a flame on the point of some spear-like weapon.

"Now, let me ask again," the ghost said in a more aggressive tone. "_Where is the Ghost Boy!"_

Tucker turned his head and saw Danny standing in the crowd of people watching in terror at them being held hostage by this ghost. "That's him!" he screamed, pointing to Danny. Immediately, everyone in the crowd turned toward Danny and stared at him with shocked eyes. They now knew they were looking at Danny Phantom, or as everyone else knew him as, Inviso-Bill.

Danny's face turned angry and stared directly at Tucker. "Gee, thanks!" he said in an upset and frustrated tone.

"Hey, sorry for selling you out, man," Tucker said with a nervous smile on his face. "I'll make it up to you somehow!"

"So, _you're_ the Ghost Boy," the ghost said, pointing his ghostly spear at Danny. "Now, this should be amusing. If you're _really _the Ghost Boy, let's see what you've got!"

Everyone stared at Danny, waiting to see him morph into his ghost form and kick that other ghost's butt. However, they didn't get anything like that.

"How can I be the Ghost Boy?" Danny said. "I don't have powers or anything like that."

Despite the fact that Tucker and just revealed Danny as the Ghost Boy, Danny tried lying, hoping that everyone would believe him and not Tucker.

"Really?" the ghost said. "If you're not the ghost boy, then let's see how you handle THIS!"

Saying this, the ghost pointed his spear at Danny and launched a fast beam of ghostly energy at him. Danny jumped out of the way just in time, leaving a black, charred mark on the floor where the energy hit.

Just as Danny was starting to get up, he saw the ghost preparing to launch another blast at him. Danny rolled out of the way just in time, leaving another charred mark on the ground.

"That does it!" Danny yelled as he finally gained his balance and got up. "Now you've done it! I'm going ghost!"

Danny screamed his battle cry and wasn't putting up with that ghost anymore. Two large white circles formed around Danny's abdomen, and they started to spread apart from each other. As they spread, Danny's t-shirt and jeans turned into a black jumpsuit, his hands had gloves appear on them and his black hair turned into a blinding shade of white.

At least, that was what Danny was expecting to happen. Unfortunately for him, nothing like that happened. In fact, nothing happened at all.

Danny looked down at his wrists, wondering why nothing had happened. "What the?…" he stammered. He looked up and he saw the ghost ready to launch another blast of the ghostly energy coming from the ghost's spear.

The energy hit Danny square in the chest and set him flying backwards. He smashed into the wall of the mall and heard a lot of people gasping and screaming, along with hearing their footsteps running away.

Barely having consciousness, Danny looked up and saw the ghost walking towards him slowly. Danny moaned in pain as he saw the ghost continue to walk next to him. When the ghost was right next to Danny, he lifted up his foot and smashed it into the side of Danny's head. That was the last thing Danny remembered before being knocked out cold.


	7. Captured

His eyes began to twitch. His mouth started to vibrate. Small moans starting coming from his closed mouth. Slowly, Danny began to open his eyes. At first, he saw nothing except a large, dark blur. Then, when his eyes adjusted, he saw the ghost that had attacked him at the mall hovering right over him, but he saw another ghost. The second ghost he saw was a woman ghost. She had pale green skin with white eyes and long black hair. However, she had dark armor as well.

"Well, well, well," said the ghost who attacked Danny at the mall, "look who finally woke up. Maybe we can get some useful information out of you now."

"You…" Danny moaned, ready to burst but still barely awake. "You knocked me out and brought me here? I'll pulverize you…"

"Save the threats," the ghost said in a casual tone. He turned away and started looking at the female ghost. "Lady Raschenda, I think the time has come to start the process."

"Very well," said Raschenda, the lady ghost.

Danny saw her hit a button a control pad, and immediately Danny felt as if he was being levitated up. He looked down and saw that he was strapped to a weird piece of equipment. He was hooked up to the equipment and saw that the entire machine was hooked up to a large computer. Danny was strapped down to the machine, but he was being moved so that he would be laying vertically on it, as if he were being pressed against a wall.

The ghost who attacked Danny at the mall went over to Danny and gave him a very serious expression. "Look, kid, we don't want to be wasting our time on the likes of you. Now listen, and listen good to what I'm about to say: _Where is the Ghost Boy!_

"Uh…I don't know," Danny lied. He hoped that by lying, he could convince Raschenda and the other ghost that he _wasn't_ the Ghost Boy, even though he knew he was. If he could convince them that he wasn't the ghost boy, then maybe they would let him go.

As soon as Danny answered that question, a siren went off on the large computer screen hooked up to the machine. Danny saw what looked like a life line on it, and there were dramatic rises in it.

"Lady Raschenda," said the ghost as he looked at the screen. "His heart rate is rising, he must be lying to us."

"We don't tolerate lying," Raschenda said as she walked away from the controls. Her voice sounded feminine enough, but Danny thought she sounded like bad news. "Well, no matter, we have ways of making you talk."

Saying this, Raschenda pulled out what looked like a large feather duster from her armor. She went over to Danny and showed it to him, basically saying that she was going to use that as a tool of interrogation.

_Ha, _Danny thought to himself when he saw it. Apparently, he thought she was going to try to tickle him with it. _I may be ticklish, but that's not gonna get me to say anything different,_ Danny thought to himself as Raschenda approached him with the feather duster-type thing.

As he finished thinking this, the feathery things ignited into deep blue and green flames. Danny's eyes immediately widened with fear as Raschenda approached him with the now torch-like thing.

"Now, do you wish to say something different?" Raschenda asked as she moved towards Danny even closer. Danny couldn't move, he could only watch as Raschenda began to place the fire closer to him.

"Uh…I'm really not the ghost boy?" Danny said hopefully. He could only hope that Raschenda would believe it. Yes, he could_ only hope._

The computer started blaring again, signaling that Danny had just told a lie. As soon as that alarm went off, Raschenda pushed the fire right onto Danny's arm. Danny yelped in pain as the flame, more than six hundred degrees Fahrenheit, came into contact with his arm. Raschenda left it there for a few seconds and listened to Danny scream in pain. When Raschenda eventually lifted the flame, the pain stopped and there was no evidence of a burn mark or anything like that.

"I'm going to ask again," Raschenda said, "and I'm going to use a more painful tool if I find out you're lying. Are you the Ghost Boy?"

"Okay, okay, I am!" Danny said. "I'm the Ghost Boy! The Halfa! Inviso-Bill! Now will you please let me go!"

Raschenda turned towards the computer and expected the computer to start saying that he was lying. Surprisingly, she saw that he was telling the truth.

"What?" Raschenda said, staring at the computer in disbelief. "This cannot be correct! If you're the Ghost Boy, then why won't…uggh! You're going to pay for this, Ghost Boy!"

"What did I do!" Danny shrieked, starting to get annoyed. "Fine, you don't believe me that I'm the Ghost Boy! I'll prove it to you! I'm going ghost!"

Once again, Danny yelled his battle cry, hoping to go into Ghost Mode. Unfortunately, things worked just as well now as they did when the ghost attacked him at the mall.

"Something wrong?" Raschenda said. "You don't seem to be turning into your ghost form. Perhaps you have found some way to beat the lie detector we have installed on our computer?"

"Lady Raschenda," said the other ghost, who was now at the controls, "that's not possible! Our lie detectors are foolproof! They're far more advanced than the kinds those humans have! There's no way he could fool them!"

"Well, if he's really Danny Phantom as he's claiming he is, then try to extract his powers again!" Raschenda yelled.

"Extract my powers?" Danny said, obviously confused. "What are you talking about?"

The ghost hit a few buttons on the control panel, but nothing happened. Danny just looked around, obviously nervous. After what seemed like the longest time, Raschenda just sighed. She was obviously annoyed but didn't unleash any of it.

"Something is not right here!" she scowled. "How can he be the Ghost Boy and not have his powers!"

"How do you know he doesn't have any of his powers?" the ghost at the control panel asked.

"Because the machine isn't extracting any!" Raschenda screamed. "If he had his powers, then we would be extracting them from his body and blood!"

"Well, Lady Raschenda, if he doesn't have his powers but claims he is the Ghost Boy and it's being confirmed that he's the Ghost Boy by our lie detectors, then there is obviously something wrong! He could be a Maldum spy who has somehow tricked the system. Only a Maldum could even hope of tricking the lie detector. Vundeter, take him to the torture chamber!"

"Yes, Lady Raschenda," said Vundeter, releasing Danny from the machine and dragging him into the torture chamber.

"What's a Maldum?" Danny said quietly as he was being carried off to the torture chamber. "And did he say…torture chamber?"

Vundeter threw Danny into a small room. Instantly, Vundeter pulled out an arsenal of sharp and dangerous objects. He looked at Danny with a very angry face.

"Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way," Vundeter said. "I'd have more fun doing this the hard way, but it's your choice."

Danny could only gulp and look, terrified at all the machines and torture instruments Vundeter had in his hands.


	8. Left in the Dark

Vundeter, the ghost that attacked Danny at the mall, was now keeping Danny in a cold prison cell in some weird place in an unknown location of the Ghost Zone. Vundeter was showing Danny the torture instruments he had, hoping that it would make Danny leak any information at all.

"How long has it been since you've realized you didn't have your powers!" Vundeter demanded, putting his face only inches from Danny's.

"Uh…well, just this morning when I was at the mall and you attacked me," Danny said.

"And why did you not have your powers if you're actually the ghost boy?" Vundeter yelled even louder, wanting to make Danny as nervous as possible.

"I don't know!" Danny yelled.

"What other ghosts have you come into contact with lately?" Vundeter yelled loudly.

"Well, I've uh…um…uhhhh…wow. Actually, I don't think I've had to battle any ghosts for at least this past week," Danny said. "And my ghost sense didn't even go off during this past week. I guess there were no ghosts around me."

"Your ghost sense?" Vundeter said. "Is that one of your powers?"

"Yeah," Danny said. "It goes off whenever I come close to any ghosts."

Vundeter looked at Danny with a cold glare, and then pulled out a sharp, metal prong. Less than a second later, a long current of blue electricity started firing from the prong and engulfed Danny. Danny screamed in pain and violently started shaking around on the floor in agony. After about ten seconds, Vundeter stopped the current.

Danny was breathing hard, but finally get the strength to talk after a little while. "What was that for?" he yelled loudly.

"You lie," Vundeter said. "If you had a ghost sense, then it would be going off now. I'm a ghost, and yet I don't see anything alerting you that you're in the presence of one."

"Well, I don't know what's going wrong then!" Danny yelled. "Will you just leave me alone! What did I ever do to you!"

"I think you're forgetting that _I'm_ the one asking the questions here, kid!" Vundeter yelled. He pulled out the prong again and fired some of the electricity at Danny. Vundeter didn't fire a lot of it, but just enough to make Danny feel pain for a second or two.

"Look, I've had a rough week, and I don't need this!" Danny yelled. "If you're going to be making my life harder than it already is for no apparent reason, then I'm going to show some resistance!"

Even though he didn't have his powers, Danny shot up from the floor and tried grab Vundeter's head and try to crush it the best he could. Vundeter just grabbed Danny by the throat and threw him against a wall.

Danny slowly moaned as Vundeter approached him. Danny thought Vundeter was going to take out the prong again or torture him in some other way, but to his surprise, Vundeter only stood there.

"So, you want me to do this the hard way?" Vundeter said. "I'll gladly do this the hard way. That's my favorite way."

"Please…don't do anything else to me," Danny pleaded. "I'm confused and I have no idea why my powers aren't working. I'm being completely honest about this: it seems my powers just stopped working overnight, ghost sense and all!"

"That seems a little farfetched to me," Vundeter said, reaching into his pocket. Danny immediately tried to protect himself with his arms the best he could, fearing Vundeter would use something else on him. He looked up and saw Vundeter was holding a small pistol in his hand. "But maybe you're just a little tired."

Saying this, Vundeter pulled the trigger on the pistol. Instantly a small dart shot out of it and struck Danny in the chest. Danny moaned, but then slowly lost consciousness. He gently started to fall down onto the floor.

When Danny finally awoke after an unknown amount of time, he saw that the cell he was being held hostage in was completely empty. There was no sign of Vundeter or Raschenda in sight.

Danny looked around just to make sure no one was watching. When he saw that there was no sign of anyone, he screamed, "I'm going ghost!" and focused every bit of his might on turning into his ghost half again.

Nothing. Danny looked disappointed that he wasn't turning into a ghost, but he really wasn't expecting much. He started pacing around, wondering why his powers suddenly stopped working.

"Has it been school?" Danny said out loud as he paced back and forth in his cell. "Has the stress of school this week somehow cost me my powers?" Danny thought more and more about it, but he didn't think that was it. He had been stressed out before.

"Maybe it had something to do with me being angry and frustrated this week?" Danny thought. As soon as he thought of this as a possibility, he dropped it and figured that it had the same answer to his last question.

"Maybe it's pressure," Danny thought to himself. "I've never had so much to worry about in my whole life. It's probably natural fear or pressure. There's no other thing that I can think of that would cause me to suddenly lose my power."

Danny tried to go with that, but that still left him with a lot of unanswered questions. His main concern, though, was that that he was stuck in a jail cell and being interrogated by two ghosts he had never encountered before. His first priority was to figure out how to get out of that jail cell.

Luckily for Danny, the answer came a few minutes later. Danny heard a few lasers firing and heard Vundeter screaming, "WHAT THE!…"

Danny looked up to see what was going on, and instantly one of the walls to his jail cell was blown open. Danny jumped back so he wouldn't get hurt in the collapse, and when the dust cleared, he was very pleased with what he saw.

"Sam! Tucker!" Danny yelled. His two friends had taken one of his dad's vehicles to fly around the Ghost Zone in and somehow found Danny in that jail cell.

"Hey man!" Tucker yelled, opening the door to the vehicle. Tucker slammed the door shut as soon as Danny got in. "See? I told you I'd make it up to you for selling you out at the mall."

Sam hit a button at the control panel, and instantly the vehicle flew away from the place where Danny was being held hostage.

Danny looked back when Sam had flown the car out of the place where he was dragged to after he got knocked out at the mall. Danny saw that he had been in a giant fortress in some far reach of the Ghost Zone.

"So, Danny, what happened?" Tucker said, eagerly wanting to know everything that Danny had to go through over the past few hours.

"Well, when I got knocked out cold at the mall, the ghost that attacked me dragged me to the place you just saved me from."

"Do you know that ghost's name?" Tucker said. "I don't think I remember seeing him."

"I'm pretty sure his name was Vundeter," Danny said. "Anyway, that Vundeter guy and some woman ghost named Rashcenda tried to take away my ghost powers but they couldn't. All my ghost powers were gone, I couldn't even use them myself."

"Wait, why would they want your ghost powers?"

"I don't know."

"And who was that Raschenda ghost? I don't remember either."

"I don't know."

"And how come you didn't have any of your powers?"

"That…" Danny started, "I _really_ don't know."


	9. Bearing Arms

Before you start reading this, I'd like to say a special thanks to Master of Procrastination once again for reading this and reviewing every chapter (except the earliest ones) and demanding what happened to Danny's powers. Don't worry, you'll find out eventually. Once again, thank you Master of Procrastination for continuing to review my story.

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"What do you mean 'you don't know what happened to your powers'?" Sam said as she continued to drive the vehicle out of the Ghost Zone.

"I don't know," Danny said. "They just suddenly stopped working."

Sam finally found the portal out of the Ghost Zone and back into Danny's basement with all the ghost hunting weapons.

"Well, here's a word of advice," Tucker said. "If I were you, I would _not_ go into school on Monday without your powers."

"I know," Danny said. "But I don't know what to do for protection now! If ghosts randomly start coming after me, I'm not going to be able to fight them off."

"Well, do you think you'll _ever_ get your powers back?" Sam said.

"Of course I will," Danny reassured. "And when I do, those two ghosts that just held me hostage are going to be the first ones on my hit list."

"Hey! I got an idea!" Tucker yelled, interrupting Sam and Danny. "You got your powers for the first time by going into your dad's Fenton Portal and turning it on, right?"

"Yeah. Are you suggesting that I do that again?" Danny said.

"It's worth a try, isn't it?" Tucker said.

"It won't work, Tucker," Sam said. "Danny's already got ghost molecules. That portal only makes his molecules change, it doesn't give him power."

"Hey, at least I tried!" Tucker said.

"Look, I appreciate you guys trying to help," Danny said. "But this is really my problem more than it is yours. Why don't you guys get home? I don't want to put you in danger."

"Don't worry about it, Danny," Sam said, heading up the stairs. "I have to go now anyway. My mom will be expecting me home soon."

"Me too," Tucker said following Sam up the stairs. "We'll help you get your powers back. Don't worry."

"Thanks guys," Danny said weakly. As soon as they were both gone, Danny immediately slumped down on the floor. He covered his face with his hands.

"_What am I going to do?"_ Danny said to himself as he sat in the corner of his basement. _"I can't just walk into school being a regular kid. The ghosts will tear me to shreds if I do that. Maybe I can…"_

"Howdy, son!" Danny heard his dad yell.

Instantly, Danny heard his dad's footsteps storming down the stairs to the basement. Danny looked at the stairs to see his dad standing there.

"How was the mall?" Danny's dad asked.

"What?" Danny asked, completely losing his thoughts. "Oh, great. The mall was great," he said in one breath.

"That's good," Danny's dad said. "Did you see any ghosts there, because if you did I'll take some of my equipment and I'll show'em a thing or two!"

"The equipment?" Danny said. He looked over at all the ghost-battling stuff his dad had. "That's it! Hey dad, me, Sam and Tucker are going to be putting on a performance in Lancer's class and we need some weapons. Can I bring yours in and pass them off as fake pieces of plastic?"

"What? You want me to bring my expensive ghost hunting equipment into school just so you can put on a performance?" Danny's dad said. "Hmmmmm…well, all right. If you see any ghosts, though, be sure to use those weapons to defend yourself!"

"Will do," Danny said with a smile on his face.

Danny's dad walked up the stairs. As soon as Danny knew his dad was out of ear-shot, he said "Great! Now that my dad gave me permission to take his ghost hunting equipment into school, I'll be able to defend myself from any ghost!"

Danny grabbed all his dad's equipment that he could cram into his backpack. Danny couldn't say he now felt comfortable, but at least he had things to fend the ghosts off with in case they attacked him.

Sunday went by, and soon it was Monday again. A whole new week, and soon, a whole new adventure for Danny had begun.

Danny showed Sam and Tucker that he brought his dad's ghost weapons into school for self defense, and they both agreed that it was the best thing he could have done to protect himself.

The day went by and Danny was on close watch for any ghosts. However, he didn't see any ghosts attack him at all. He felt relieved that a day went by without any ghost fighting, but he still had to get his powers back. How he'd do that was another story.

Danny went home and did all of his homework. As soon as he finished, he had time to relax. Unfortunately for him, things stayed the most relaxing as they had been the previous week.

As soon as Danny was ready to call it a day, he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Hello, ghost child."

Danny turned around and saw Raschenda and Vundeter staring at him. "Hello, ghost child," Raschenda said. "How did you escape? We need you back. Listen to us. We…"

"You need me back?" Danny screamed. "Not likely! You're lucky I'm here alone, or else you would be in for some trouble!"

"Really?" Raschenda said. "Then I guess it is a good thing that you are alone. It will make it all the easier for us…"

Danny didn't let Raschenda finish what she was going to say. Danny dove for his backpack and pulled out a ghost pistol. Danny pulled the trigger and it fired a green blast of energy that barely missed Raschenda.

"Fool!" Raschenda said. "You think that piece of junk can defeat me?"

Saying this, Raschenda fired some of her energy at the weapon and knocked it right out of Danny's hand. Danny gulped and immediately ran back to his backpack and pulled out a ghost shield. He also pulled out what looked like a small metal chip and threw it at Raschenda and Vundeter. As soon as it hit them, it detonated and created a loud, green explosion around the two.

Vundeter fired a blast of energy out of his hand, clearing the green smoke.

"If it's a fight you want, Ghost Boy," Vundeter said. "Then it is a fight you shall get!" Vundeter was ready to fire some energy at Danny until Raschenda put her hand out in front of his face.

"Don't do anything to hurt him," Raschenda said. "We need him, remember?"

Vundeter mumbled angrily and dropped his guard.

"Ghost Boy, we have…"

"Look, my name's Danny, okay?" Danny yelled.

"Apologies," Raschenda said insincerely. "Danny, we have some shocking news for you. We think we know what happened to your powers."


	10. Getting Back What Was His

"What?" Danny said, starting to really get interested. Anything not concerning his ghost powers immediately left his mind. Danny went into full concentration mode when Raschenda mentioned she thought she knew what happened to his powers.

"According to our spy's information," Raschenda said in her feminine, seductive voice, "the Maldums have taken your power and are attempting to use it to win this war and take over the ghost zone."

Danny's expression dropped. Finding out what happened to his powers only brought another problem to be dealt with now, not to mention a bunch of questions he had to ask.

"Wait a minute," Danny said. "Who are the Maldums? And what did you mean by 'your spies'? And who wants to take over the Ghost Zone, because they apparently have not read an original book in months."

"The Maldums are…guh, I hate it when I have to explain this to the trainees. Vundeter, you tell Danny the whole story."

"The trainees?" Danny said with an obvious tone of confusion in his voice.

"Never mind that," Vundeter said. "Now, as Lady Raschenda wanted me to explain: the Maldums are an organization of ghosts that are becoming power hungry and want to take over the entire Ghost Zone. Our spy came back with information that to make this war easier, they stole your powers so they could use your spectacular ghost strength to help win this war."

"But my powers aren't any greater…well, not _too_ much greater than any of the ghosts I have to fight on a daily basis. Mine alone couldn't give them enough power to win a war!" Danny insisted.

"Do you suppose they stole the powers of other ghosts, Lady Raschenda?" Vundeter asked, turning his head toward his boss.

"Our spy says he found out they only got Danny's power," Raschenda responded in her calm, cool tone.

"Who's your spy?" Danny asked.

"It's not important," Vundeter responded. "What _is_ important is that we're in a war with those Maldums and we have to prevent them from taking over the Ghost Zone and ultimately the world at all costs."

"Uh…yeah," Danny said, getting very confused and not caring about this part. "Well, good luck with that."

"Whatever do you mean by that?" Raschenda asked. "You're fighting, too."

"I'm what!" Danny raged. "I don't think so! I've got enough stuff to worry about as it is! I don't need to go to school knowing I have to help some ghosts I don't even know by fighting in a war against _other_ ghosts I don't even know."

"Do you want your powers back?" Vundeter stepped in, crossing his arms and giving Danny a cold and serious look.

"Of course!" Danny insisted. "But…"

"Then is it settled," Vundeter said. "Lady Raschenda, shall we tell the boy what he must do to get his powers back?"

"This is getting way too complicated," Danny said. "Are you telling me getting my powers back won't be something easy?"

"Easy?" Vundeter said. "Far from it. And getting your powers back is only the beginning of it all. Now, I'm going to ask you one last time, and I only want a 'yes' or 'no' answer. Do you want your powers back?"

Danny sighed in an annoyed and frustrated way. "Yes."

"Then it is agreed," Vundeter said. "Then we shall attack the Maldum base and retrieve your powers back."

"Uh, great," Danny said. "So, how long until we go? Later tonight? Tomorrow?"

"Right now," Raschenda said.

Danny's face dropped at that response. However, he figured the sooner he got his powers back, the better off he would be.

"Since you are unable to fly or use your ghost powers, your only means to get through the Ghost Zone would be to use that weird ship your friends saved you in?" Raschenda asked, making her way down the stairs into the Fenton's basement and towards the portal.

"I guess so," Danny said. "But how come I have to come with you? I have go in unarmed and unable to defend myself, those Maldums will smash me to bits if what you say is true about them."

"That is why we are going to properly equip you," Raschenda said, turning her attention towards the ghost portal and started to try to figure out how to open it. "Vundeter will show you all your weapons and how to use them when we go into the Maldum base to get your powers back."

Danny turned towards Vundeter almost out of instinct. Vundeter continued to give Danny that cold stare, except nodded his head softly as a nonverbal way of saying that he would show Danny the weapons and how to use them.

Raschenda finally figured out how to open the ghost portal. Instantly, the metal door twisted open, revealing a murky, green abyss that was inhabited by the ghosts of the Ghost Zone. The vehicle Danny would drive through the Ghost Zone was sitting right at the entrance to it.

"This is your last chance," Raschenda said, staring into the Ghost Zone. "If you do not wish to follow us into our enemy's lair, then now would be the time to say so."

Danny stammered. He suddenly felt a lot more pressured, just by those words. After a silence of what seemed like forever, he finally said, "I need my powers back, and you guys are my only lead in getting them back. I hope I can trust you guys."

"Splendid," Raschenda said with a smile. "Vundeter, accompany him in the ghost car. I will fly towards the Maldum base. Danny, all you need to do is follow me."

"I'm really trusting you guys," Danny muttered.

Vundeter opened the door on the vehicle for Danny, and Danny quietly went in, nervously glancing at Vundeter as he strolled in. After Danny walked in with fear and suspense wreaking his nerves, Vundeter walked in and shut the door behind him. It was at that moment that Danny knew there was no turning back.

Danny hopped to the controls and tried to turn on the vehicle on. It started, and Raschenda hopped in front of the vehicle and signaled for Danny to start following her. Danny gulped as he slowly started making the vehicle follow Raschenda as she flew through the Ghost Zone.

There were so many twists and turns and Danny had gone deeper into the Ghost Zone than he could ever remember going. He was starting to doubt whether or not Raschenda knew where she was going, or if she was leading him anywhere other than his death.

They finally arrived, but Raschenda instructed Danny to stop a few hundred yards short of the fortress. Vundeter spent a bit of time explaining all the weapons and things Danny was supposed to do and to use them _only if he had to._

"All right, listen here, kid," Vundeter said. "These are ghost grenades." Vundeter pulled out what looked like regular live grenades, except they had a greenish glow to it and they obviously didn't let chemical explosions out, but green blasts of energy.

"Now these," Vundeter continued, "are proton lasers. They are very dangerous but can melt the strongest steel and through the thickest concrete." The proton lasers looked like a laser pointer, but when fired, it made a loud sound similar to lasers heard in sci-fi movies.

"And here is what you will have to defend yourself," Vundeter said, pulling out a small looking remote control. "Hit the red button in the middle, and a giant bubble type thing will appear around you. This is a force field that will protect you from any ghost attack that we know of. And trust me, there aren't any new ghost attacks to just be discovered in less than two weeks."

"Got it!" Danny said, taking all the weapons and stuffing them in his pockets. "Now, can we please get this over with?"

Raschenda went invisible and went inside the car. "Take my hand!" she commanded, pushing her hand out towards Danny.

"What? Why?" Danny stammered.

"You want to get through the Ghost Zone, don't you?" Raschenda said. "If you go out like are now, you'll just fall into that infinite abyss. If you take my hand, I can fly you to the Maldum base."

The Maldum base looked like a giant castle floating in the Ghost Zone. It seemed to be easily taller than any of the buildings that Danny had ever seen in his life.

"I have to go into that thing and find my powers?" Danny asked loudly. "You're asking me to find a needle in a haystack! I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for! Are my powers in a container or a vial or a giant vat or what?"

"We have no idea," Raschenda said. "Our only knowledge is that they are in here someplace. Shall we go look for them?"

"Do I have a choice?" Danny said, crossing his arms.

Raschenda and Vundeter said nothing. Raschenda grabbed Danny's arm and made them both invisible. They went right through the walls of the vehicle and into the Maldum base, with Vundeter following right behind them.

Danny hoped that to get his powers back he would have had just to do some easy task, at most. Instead, he has to go into the castle of some type of ghost that he heard to be hostile, and he had to find his powers in that giant place and take them back without getting himself killed.

"I don't think I'm going to have any time to finish my homework," Danny sighed as was being flown into the castle.


	11. First Strike

The fortress was looming in the abyss that was the Ghost Zone. Vundeter was pulling Danny into the fortress of the Maldums, with Danny's heart racing. He didn't like Raschenda or Vundeter, nor did he trust them. And he especially did not want to fight side by side them in a war against other ghosts. Unfortunately for Danny, if he wanted to get his powers back, this was the only way he could.

"Now," Raschenda said. "You must go and search for the powers that were stolen from you. Vundeter and I shall fight off any ghosts that come in your way."

Raschenda's voice was really getting to Danny. It sounded like it belonged to a female henchman in a James Bond movie. Heck, Raschenda even _looked_ like a female henchman in a James Bond movie, despite the pale green skin, the piercing white eyes and the fact that she was wearing armor and not revealing clothing.

"All right," Danny said. He gulped and went into the main hall of the fortress. The entire place looked like a giant haunted house. There were long dark hallways that were erringly empty. Danny's footsteps made echoing noises as he walked across the marble floor. There was barely any light in the place, and yet Danny could see around clearly. There were barely any rooms, except for an elevator that seemed to go upwards into the fort.

Danny and the two ghosts following him were ready to step into the elevator until they heard someone scream from behind, "Intruders! Freeze where you are!"

The three turned around in shock to see that there were over fifteen ghosts staring at them, all of them having great amounts of energy being stored and charged in their hands. They could fire that energy at any opportunity they wanted.

Danny didn't hesitate. He picked up a ghost grenade out of his pocket and threw it at the ghosts. It immediately exploded, causing a massive explosion of green fire. The ghosts that got hit started screaming in pain and slowly fell to the ground.

Danny looked around and saw one ghost ready to punch him in the face as hard as he could, but Raschenda fired a blast of energy out of her hands and knocked that ghost to the side. Danny gave her a quick nod, saying "Thanks."

The fight raged on with more and more ghosts firing blasts of green energy at Danny and the other ghosts, with several blasts coming literally within an inch of hitting Danny. Danny finally had enough of it and pulled out the proton laser that Vundeter had shown to him before they left.

Danny fired the proton laser and a thick beam of red light came firing out of the weapon. It hit a ghost and immediately put a hole right where Danny hit him. The ghost screamed in pain and fell to the ground and didn't get up.

"Nice work of that laser," said Vundeter as he picked up an enemy ghost and threw it on top of another enemy ghost. Vundeter looked just like a medieval knight, but without a sword or helmet. His white slits for eyes seemed to strike fear into the hearts of all the ghosts that confronted him, along with his thick armor and strong build.

"Thanks," Danny said, continuing to fire it at all the other ghosts that he could without accidentally blasting Raschenda or Vundeter. That laser was going to make the fight an easy win for him and the two other ghosts until he saw that the laser ran out of energy and would need to be recharged.

But it didn't matter. Raschenda grabbed the last enemy ghost and fired some of her ectoplasma energy at its face and defeated it. She threw it to the side.

Breathing heavily, Danny, Vundeter and Raschenda looked around at the room. After the quick battle they had just fought, they saw the bodies of all the ghosts lying helplessly on the floor.

"Not a bad exercise," Danny said, putting his hand onto his forehead.

"No time for that now," Vundeter said. "We still haven't accomplished what we came here to do. Let's get to that elevator now and look on all the different levels of this fortress for your powers, Danny."

"Right," Danny said, forming a fist in mid air.

Armed with all the weapons Vundeter had shown him, Danny tried walking over to the elevator as quietly as he could. He opened the door to it and went from floor to floor. After several tries, Danny was finally on the top floor with Raschenda and Vundeter right behind him. Danny's heart was pounding so hard now, thinking Raschenda and Vundeter were about to lead him into a trap that could cost him his life.

The elevator opened on the very top floor. The hallway was very narrow with nothing on the sidewalls. The long hallway ended in a massive room, where two ghosts were standing at a giant computer.

"Why is it taking so long?" one of the ghosts standing at the computer said. He was hooked up to some wires coming from the machine and he seemed to be waiting for the other ghost to do a procedure with the controls to the computer.

Danny couldn't see what either of the ghosts looked like. They were both in front of a large see-through capsule with a green liquid glowing from inside of it. From the angle he was looking at the ghosts, Danny couldn't say for sure what they looked like, as he only saw a silhouette. He could only see that the two ghosts looked just like humans, but obviously with some thick armor on.

"My lord, I apologize for this," said the ghost at the controls, the one who wasn't hooked up to all the machines.

"That must be them," Raschenda whispered. She put out her hand and fired an energy blast at the container. The container smashed to pieces and the green liquid from inside poured out onto the floor.

The two ghosts turned around, and Danny saw they both looked almost exactly like Raschenda and Vundeter, with the exception that the ghosts Danny saw by the computer looked bigger and meaner.

"You!" said the ghost hooked up the machine. "How did you get in here? Well, so much for those guards! Fine then, I guess this will be a quick and easy assassination of the enemy army's leader!"

The ghost that was hooked up to the machine held out his hand and started forming a ball of energy in it, until he looked at Danny.

"What?…_you_ got in here, too!" the ghost hooked up to the machine said. He ripped all the cables and wires off of him and pulled out a small capsule and started sucking up all the green fluid that poured out of the container when Raschenda smashed it into the capsule. It was almost all gone before the ghost yelled "What! The capsule is full?"

Apparently, the capsule the ghost was sucking all the fluid up into was full to capacity. He wasn't too pleased with this, and yelled at the ghost at the controls "Cobaark! Finish off these miserable beings…especially the boy!"

The ghost hooked up to the machines took the capsule and turned invisible, and then immediately flew out of the room.

"So, I see you Escerons are as stubborn as ever," said Cobaark, the ghost at the computer. He had thick armor on but didn't seem to have a weapon. He had a helmet with intimidating red eyes staring out. "Well, no more! I'm going to finish you off once and for all, Raschenda and Vundeter!"

"Go ahead and try!" Vundeter challenged.

Cobaark immediately started charging, but Raschenda held out her hand and an invisible force field threw Cobaark back.

Vundeter added onto this by charging up a ball of green fire in his hands and prepared to launch it at Cobaark. Cobaark, lying on the ground, saw what was coming and rolled out of the way of the fire just in time. He sprung up in the air and countered Vundeter's attack with a green fireball of his own.

Vundeter got hit in the chest by this blow and was smashed against the wall. Cobaark was ready to launch another blast of fire at Vundeter, this time, a fatal one, until Raschenda came up from behind and grabbed Cobaark and lifted him up in the air, ready to strangle him to death.

Cobaark finally gave one solid kick and it smashed Raschenda's jaw. She dropped Cobaark and fell on the ground.

Now, Vundeter and Raschenda were lying helplessly on the ground with Cobaark approaching them. He started to form more energy in his hand, ready to blast the two ghosts to pieces.

Danny, not being able to do anything (he ran out of grenades and his laser needed to be charged) stared in horror, knowing that soon, his life would be over as well. He looked at Raschenda but didn't see fear in her eyes. She looked back at Danny, but then glanced over at the liquid lying on the floor that escaped from the container when Raschenda broke it.

"You want me to drink that?" Danny said with a confused and unhappy look on his face. "Wait a minute! Is that my power in liquid form?"

"We can only hope," Raschenda mumbled as Cobaark continued to charge up a fatal blast of fire to launch at both Raschenda and Vundeter at the same time.

Danny's mouth was vibrating violently, then ran over to the liquid lying on the ground and picked it up. It was surprisingly thick, almost as if it were solid. Danny tried swallowing as much of the fluid as he could. He certainly didn't feel any different after drinking it.

"Well, here's my last hope," Danny said after he swallowed the liquid. "I'm going ghost!"

As Danny shouted his battle cry once again, a white circle formed around his mid section. The circle split into two smaller circles, one traveling up his body while the other traveled downwards. As the white circles moved, the areas it passed changed Danny's clothes into a black jumpsuit. His black hair turned a piercing shade of white and his blue eyes turned green. At least, that was what he was hoping would happen.

And to Danny's surprise, it did.

Danny had finally successfully transformed into his ghost half. He wanted to celebrate, but he had to stop Cobaark. He prepared to launch some of his own ectoplasma at Cobaark, but he couldn't.

"What?" Danny said. "I can go ghost now, but where are my offensive powers? Uh-oh."

Danny saw that Cobaark was almost done charging his lethal blast of energy to finish Raschenda and Vundeter, and not one of Danny's powers was working. Until, by some miracle, Danny figured out he could at least go invisible. He turned invisible and flew over to Cobaark. Just as he was ready to fire the blast, Danny rammed Cobaark as hard as he could and completely ruined Cobaark's attack. The fire from his hand was released and harmlessly hit a wall.

Cobaark gasped and immediately flew off. Danny lowered himself to the ground and transformed back into his human self.

"I see you got your powers back," Raschenda said in an almost sneaky way. "Good work."

"Yeah, I guess that weird stuff WAS my power," Danny said. "But I can't perform any special attacks. I can only go invisible."

"That was only a small amount of your power you got back," Raschenda explained. "Myrus flew off with the rest."

"Myrus?" Danny said. "Who's Myrus?"

"It doesn't matter," Vundeter said. "I'll explain to you on the way back to your home."

"Well guys," Danny said. "What say we ditch this place?"


	12. The Maldums' Plan

"Good thinking," Raschenda agreed, crossing her arms. "I say we leave this place now."

Danny, Raschenda and Vundeter ran out of the Maldum base and back towards the ship that they had flown to the base on. Danny fired up the engine and flew away from the base as fast as he could, with Raschenda following right beside him. Vundeter agreed to fly in the vehicle so he could explain to Danny everything that was going on.

"So, what exactly is a Maldum?" Danny asked as he was carefully piloting the vehicle through the depths of the Ghost Zone.

"A Maldum," Vundeter began to explain, "is just the term for our enemy in this war. The Madlums are a race of power-thirsty ghosts. Those two ghosts you just saw by the computers were the highest ranked in the Maldum military."

"Wait a minute," Danny said. "You mean all I had to do was capture those guys and then you'd leave me alone?"

"Simply capturing them won't work," Vundeter said in a low voice. "We will have to permanently remove them from existence."

"…in other words?"

"Kill them."

"I don't think so!" Danny said, gripping the steering wheel harder as he flew towards the portal out of the Ghost Zone and back to his home. "I am _not_ the kind of person who would kill someone. Besides, it's not even possible to kill a ghost. Aren't ghosts already dead? Aren't they just a concentrated piece of ectoplasma that can physically move and attack?"

"You tell me," Vundeter said. "You're the Ghost Boy, after all."

"I'm telling you," Danny said, "my dad only came up with the equipment to capture ghosts, not kill them, if that's even possible."

"I guess we'll have to find a way then," said Vundeter with a creepy smile on his face. "There must be some secret attack or dark power that can destroy a ghost permanently."

"Can you please get back to the story?" Danny asked, becoming confused and annoyed. It was hard listening to Vundeter say how much they had to find a secret move to destroy the Maldums.

"Fine!" Vundeter said. "Anyway, the Maldums are threatening to take over the world, and the last time they did it, their plan almost succeeded. Now, years later, they're trying the same thing again, except this time there is a new weapon up for grabs."

"Don't tell me…" Danny moaned, rolling his eyes as he continued piloting the car.

"That weapon is _you_, Ghost Boy," Vundeter said. "Whichever side you choose is likely to be the side that will win this war."

"Can I just stay neutral?" Danny asked. "I didn't want to get involved in this whole thing. If the Maldums win this war, then too bad for you. But, I'm not getting involved, because if they win, it won't affect _me_ at all."

"That's what you think," Vundeter said. "But if the Maldums win, then the Ghost Zone will be completely overrun by them. And if they try to go further after the Ghost Zone, they could try to take over _your _world."

Danny's face immediately dropped, but he didn't stop flying the car through the reaches of the Ghost Zone.

"So," Vundeter continued, "if you wish your world to remain free, then side with us. I don't think you want a world overpowered by hostile ghosts. You may be able to fight more than five ghosts at a time now, but you can't defeat an entire army by yourself."

"So…if I don't fight in this war, then the Maldums could win and…"

"That Maldums WILL win!"

"Wait, how do you know for sure theywill win?" Danny asked.

"They have the majority of your power," Vundeter said. "And with that power, they will have an edge in the war."

"I don't think so," Danny said, finally seeing the end of the Ghost Zone and the portal back to his world. "I said it before and I'll say it again: having my power is nothing more than having the strength of one more ghost. There is nothing about my ghost powers that set it apart from other ghosts."

"Well, please, help us anyway," Vundeter pleaded. "If you don't side with us, the Maldums will win and the Ghost Zone and eventually your world will be thrown into total chaos."

Danny finally reached the portal and flew the vehicle through it. There was a bright flash, and he was suddenly back in his own basement. Danny got out of the vehicle and opened the door for Vundeter to get out.

"Think about it, Ghost Child," Vundeter said in an aggressive tone, as if he was Danny's mom or dad. "The future of the Ghost Zone depends on which side you choose in this war. I know you'll make the right decision."

Saying this, Vundeter turned invisible and flew through the portal back to Raschenda, who was waiting for him at the other end of the portal leading into the Ghost Zone.

Danny stared at the portal as it closed. As soon as it was closed, he ran back upstairs and to his room. He was now confused and concerned.

"What am I going to do?" Danny said as he trotted back into his room. He opened the door and fell back flat on his bed. "Am I _really_ going to take the risk and side with these ghosts I haven't even known for one week and help them fight in a war against other ghosts that I've barely even met at all?"

That would soon be the least of Danny's concerns, because he remembered something else.

"My ghost powers!" Danny said. Without screaming his battle cry, he tried to transform into his ghostly half. The transformation worked as it had when battling Cobaark a short while ago. "Great!" Danny yelled. He tried to go invisible and to go through the walls, and that power worked as well.

"This is more like it," Danny said. He opened a window and put his hand out in the air. He tried to fire some of his ectoplasma energy, but none would fire. Apparently, transforming and going invisible and going through solid objects was the only thing he could do. Even in his ghost form, he only had the physical strength of what he had when he _wasn't_ ghost.

Realizing he didn't have nearly all of his powers back, Danny sat back down on his bed and started thinking to himself.

"Should I really help Raschenda and Vundeter? I don't know that I'd trust them, I really haven't known them for more than a week," he said to himself. "Maybe the Maldums are the good guys and Raschenda and Vundeter are only trying to mislead me. Maybe _they're_ the ones who want to take over the Ghost Zone. Or could both of them be playing me?"

Danny opened his eyes and suddenly became nervous. "What if it's all part of some larger scheme? How come I've never heard of those two types of ghosts before? Maybe Raschenda and Vundeter and the Maldums are in it together to get my power so _all of them_ can take over the Ghost Zone?"

Danny felt really stressed out now. He had no idea what he was supposed to do. He didn't want to get involved in this fight at all. And now that he had no choice but to fight in it, how would he know that the Maldums were really bad guys? Maybe they were the hostile ghosts that Vundeter told him they were, but maybe they weren't. Maybe…

Danny clasped his head in his hands and looked down on the ground. After an exasperated sigh, he said loudly, "I am so confused!"


	13. The Other Side

Knowing that there were two different armies that both wanted his powers made Danny nervous enough, but the fact that he barely had any of his powers at all made him more nervous. All he had now was the power to go invisible, go through solid objects and have his ghost sense only made things worse. Why did the ghosts want his powers when he only had the worse of them all?

Feeling great insecurity, Danny once again brought all of hid dad's equipment into school for defensive purposes. He did his best to hide them, knowing that if anyone other than Sam or Tucker saw them, he'd be in deep trouble.

Later on in Lancer's class, Lancer was handing back the test on _Romeo and Juliet_. Danny's heart was pounding when he was getting it back, and as Lancer read the names of all the students on the paper he was handing back, Danny's heart only started to beat faster and harder. It was beating to the point where Danny thought it could come up his throat.

"Fenton…" Lancer said, looking at Danny's graded test.

Danny perked up, but the look on Lancer's face told him that he wasn't going to like the score. Lancer placed the test face down on Danny's desk, and when Danny flipped it over to see what score he got, he was devastated.

"A 42!" Danny shrieked loud enough so that everyone in the class turned to him. Danny put his arm on the desk and covered his face in it. He felt like he could just explode now in rage and fury.

"Mr. Fenton, remember that I am allowing you to take a make-up on that test," Lancer reminded him. "And if you get a higher score, I will get rid of the 42."

Danny couldn't even look at Lancer. He just lifted his head up and slouched in his chair. When he did that, his pocket widened and one of the ghost fighting weapons came falling out of his pocket. It looked like a fake, plastic gun, but it was really a ghost ray that could temporarily freeze a ghost in its tracks.

"Mr. Fenton, what's this?" Lancer said, bending down to pick it up. Danny's heart sank. First he got a failing grade on his test, and now Lancer found the ghost weapon that Danny was carrying for protection. "Is this some toy? You know it's against school rules to bring a weapon to school, even if it's a fake."

"You don't understand!" Danny said. "You see, it was an…uh, well, it was actually, uh…"

"Enough!" Lancer said. "According to the Student Handbook you signed, bringing a fake weapon to school is punishable by detention. Mr. Fenton, I will see you at 2:30."

Danny was so furious now, he wanted nothing more than to just take his anger and frustration out on the next person to give him trouble. His body temperature seemed to rise and his pulse seemed to skyrocket as anger and hatred started running through his blood.

When 2:30 came, Danny walked into Lancer's class again, ready to sit and do nothing until 4:00. Of course, that was only what Danny was expecting. (and by this point in the story, you should know that _nothing_ of what Danny has expected has actually happened)

After sitting in detention for about twenty minutes, Lancer said he had to get up and go to the front office so he could make some photocopies of handouts everyone would need for tomorrow. No sooner did Lancer leave the room did Danny's ghost sense go off.

Danny turned around, and saw a ghost coming through the walls. The ghost was lucky that Danny was the only one sitting there in the room.

"Ah, the Ghost Boy," said the ghost as he walked towards Danny. "Finally, we can speak in private."

"Who are you!" Danny demanded, clenching his fist and ready to go ghost at any given moment.

The ghost chuckled. He was wearing dark armor and had white slits for eyes. His cape was holding completely still with no wind blowing around.

"I am Myrus," the ghost said, "Leader of the Maldums."

"Myrus?" Danny said. "Those other two ghosts…Raschenda and Vundeter…they told me about you! Were you the one hooked up to that computer when we went into your base the other day?"

"Yes," Myrus answered. "Have Raschenda and Vundeter told you enough yet?"

"Only enough to make me want to avoid you the best I can!" Danny said with an obvious tone of violence in his voice.

"Calm down, Ghost Boy," Myrus said. "Anything those two Escerons told you is a lie."

"The Escerons?" Danny asked, now confused.

"Yes. Raschenda and Vundeter, the two highest ranked members of the Esceron army. And you fought my friend, Cobaark. He and I are the leaders of the Maldum army."

"So, I take it you guys are the ones fighting against each other in the war?" Danny said.

"That is correct," Myrus said. "And we need your help in order to win the war."

"You guys look like bad news," Danny said. "And I'm not exactly putting my trust into those Escer-uh-whatever people either! You guys can win the war yourself and leave me out of this!"

"You don't understand," Myrus said. "If we win the war, we can stop all of your enemy ghosts from attacking you. You'll finally have the peace of mind you deserve."

Danny's eyes widened and a small "hmmm?" came through his closed mouth. "Okay, you got my attention. If it means I won't have to fight any more ghosts, then I'm listening."

"Splendid!" Myrus said with a small crossing his dark face. "Come, let me take you to the Maldum base."

"What?" Danny said. "I can't do that! Do you have any idea how angry Lancer will be if he sees I'm gone?"

"You can tell him you were in the bathroom when you come back," Myrus suggested. "Now, come with me."

Myrus grabbed Danny's arm forcefully, and they both disappeared out of the classroom and into a dark room. The room was completely empty, with the exception of Danny and Myrus. There was a small window, and when Danny went to look out the window, he saw that he was very high in a castle-like place overlooking the farthest reaches of the Ghost Zone. Danny gasped, and he almost heard an echo to it.

"So, Ghost Boy," Myrus started.

"Look, how many times do I have to say this? My name isn't 'Ghost Boy', it's Danny!"

"My apologies," Myrus said rather bluntly. "_Danny._ You see, my vision is to create a war free world, where we can all be one giant force that looks out for one another. We don't want to hurt anyone and we don't want to ruin anyone's lives. We want to help them."

"How?" Danny said. "Isn't going to war wrecking lives and all that stuff, because it's sure as heck ruining mine!"

"Listen," Myrus said, seemingly ignoring every thing Danny just said. "The Escerons, Raschenda, Vundeter and all their troops…they don't want us as leaders. They want to fight us because they would want the power all to themselves. They don't believe in a world where everyone can live peacefully, and they're fighting us to obstruct our path in creating that world."

"How is that going to keep all those ghosts from attacking me?" Danny asked, now paying full attention to Myrus.

"If all the ghosts work as one, then there would be no need to fight you, would there?" Myrus said, "everyone would be working together, not fighting."

"I…I guess," Danny said.

"But, in order to do that, we need you," Myrus said. "If we have your great power, then we can beat the Escerons in this war and my ideal world will be complete. All we need is you. What do you say?"

Danny stammered. He was confused now. He didn't know who to trust; the Raschenda and Vundeter, or Myrus and Cobaark?


	14. Double Dip

Before I'd start, I'd like to thank Master of Procrastination and Enigmatic Penguin for reviewing my story. If I've done my job right, I've made whoever's reading this start to think about which side Danny should join and help fight. If you don't know which army he's supposed to join, then I've done what I've wanted to. Thank you again to Master of Procrastination and Enigmatic Penguin for your reviews, keep'em coming!

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"I…I don't know what to do," Danny said in a soft, stuttering voice as Myrus continued to stare down on him with his piercing, threatening white eyes. "I'll tell you what: give me back all my powers and I'll consider fighting side by side you and Cobaark."

"_All_ of your powers?" Myrus said. "Well, you'll be disappointed to hear that some of those pesky Escerons managed to break into our base a while ago and steal some of your powers away from us."

"All right," Danny said. "Then give back the powers that you still have!"

"No!" Myrus said. "We still need those powers to help fight in the war. Once you side with us and help us win the war, then you can have all of your powers back that we have. Now, do you agree to fight beside us and defeat the Escerons?"

"I…I don't know," Danny said, stammering. "I'm still pretty unsure about what…"

Myrus' voice tone immediately became aggressive and forceful. "Well then, I'll give a little more time to think about it!" he yelled.

He grabbed Danny by the arm and a green mist started surrounding them both. When the mist cleared, Danny and Myrus were back in the detention room. Myrus didn't say another word to Danny once they both teleported back there. As soon as they got, Myrus let go of Danny's arm and disappeared into thin air. Moments after Danny got back in his desk, Lancer came walking back into the classroom with some photocopies made for his next class.

The remainder of the detention slowly went by, and when it was finally over, Danny walked out the door. Danny was now incredibly worried about school, but also by the fact that the only ghosts who had his power would refuse to give it back to him. Well, Raschenda and Vundeter had stolen some of his power, so the next time he saw them, he would demand they gave it back. He just left it simple like that.

Later that night, Danny was crawling into bed. He couldn't get to sleep too well, mainly because so many thoughts were still racing through his mind. He really needed his powers back to get even the slightest bit of confidence back. He had no idea when he would get those powers back, though. In fact, he didn't know if he would even get them back at all.

Danny finally fell fast asleep and his mind finally got a little bit of rest. Unfortunately, that soon went away. Danny felt a cold wind rush in through his bedroom as he was asleep. The wind woke him up, and when he could focus, he saw that Raschenda and Vundeter were staring at him. Both had their arms crossed and were looking at him as if he had done something wrong.

"So, you've decided to side with the Maldums, huh!" Vundeter yelled, looming closer to Danny. Danny's only defense was covering the quilt over his nose as Vundeter strolled closer to him.

"What?" Danny said, now confused and terrified. "I didn't side with them! I don't trust those guys!"

"Really?" Raschenda said, sounding as if she was surprised.

"Yeah," Danny retorted. "But don't think I want to be _your_ friend or anything!"

"Well, it seems you won't have much of a choice soon, then," Raschenda said. She walked over and shoved her way past Vundeter. She grabbed Danny's arm and commanded Vundeter to do the same.

When both ghosts were clasping to Danny's arm, Raschenda somehow made a puff of smoke appear, and they were all in the Esceron base now. The place was dark and deserted, like it was the last time Danny was there. The tiled ground and the narrow passageways added to the spookiness. All in all, the place looked like a dark maze with tiled floors and a few scary looking machines there.

"Well," Raschenda said. "As I just told you, you won't have a choice on whether or not you want your powers back. If you want your powers back, surrender your remaining powers to us, and by the end of the war, when the Escerons are victorious, you shall have your powers back."

Danny immediately started laughing, then abruptly stopped and said, "I don't think so. I'm telling you, if you want me to give you some help, you'd better give me my powers back that you stole from me!"

"That _we_ stole from you?" Raschenda asked. "Oh dear, you seem to have forgotten who's the hostage, and who the hostage _taker_ is here! Very well, I shall show you to your powers. Follow me."

Raschenda and Vundeter led Danny through the dark fortress to wherever they wanted to. Danny really didn't want to be there right now. He wasn't comfortable and he wasn't trusting neither Raschenda nor Vundeter right now. Something that only seemed to make it worse was the fact he was in his pajamas right now. The tile felt icy cold on Danny's bare feet as he blindly followed the two ghosts. Where he was leading them, he didn't know. It could have been to his powers, or maybe to a dungeon or a torture chamber.

When the winding walk finally ended, the three were in a large, dark room with a dark box in the center. Raschenda casually walked over to the box while Vundeter kept a tight and painful grip on Danny's arm, disabling him from moving anywhere.

Raschenda reached into the box and pulled out a vial. In it was a liquid that was green and glowing, and it looked very similar to the stuff that Danny had to drink in order to gain some of his powers back.

"You wanted your powers?" Raschenda said gently as she started to approach Danny. "Here, take them."

When she was within arm's reach of Danny, she put the vial in front of his face. Danny's eyes crossed as he stared at the vial with the glowing green liquid right in front of them. Danny's head started shaking, but because Vundeter was keeping such a strong grip on him, Danny couldn't move.

After a few seconds of showing it to him, Raschenda closed her hand and tucked the vial away again. "So, are you going to aid us to fight the Maldums or not?" she asked.

"Let me think about that for a second!" Danny yelled. "Um…no!"

"Stubborn, I see," Raschenda said. She walked out of the room and said, "Vundeter, set this poor boy straight. He seems to be a little confused."

When Raschenda was out of eyesight, Vundeter let go of Danny and pushed him to the other side of the room.

"You heard what she said," Vundeter said. "She wants to me help get you less confused. I think you know what she wants me to do." Saying this, Vundeter made a fist with his right hand and pounded it into his open left hand.

"I think she wants you to teach me a lesson," Danny said, putting his arms out to his sides as if he were a desperado in the wild west about to battle in a duel. "But, I'm not in the mood for anymore lessons today. School was enough!"

Saying this, Danny transformed himself once again into his ghostly form. He tried firing some energy at Vundeter, but he forgot that he didn't have that ability. He looked up wearily as Vundeter leapt in the air and was coming right at him.

Danny moved out of the way just in time and flew behind Vundeter as he landed on the ground. Danny ran up behind Vundeter and tapped him on the shoulder. Out of instinct, Vundeter turned around, and Danny balled his fist and started launching it right at Vundeter's face.

Unfortunately for Danny, Vundeter had fast reflexes. As soon as Vundeter saw the fist coming at him, he dodged his head from it. Danny fired another series of rapid punches at him, but Vundeter kept dodging them all, almost as if he could read Danny's every move.

"I could do this all day," Vundeter said as he continued dodging Danny's punches, "but Lady Raschenda wants me to finish you fast."

Saying this, he put his open hand in front of Danny's raging fist. He grabbed Danny's fist in his hand and held it back. However, he seemed to have a little trouble at first.

"You seem…stronger than I anticipated," Vundeter said, trying to hold Danny's fist back.

Danny suddenly had a confidence boost. After that, it seemed Vundeter just gave in. Danny pushed Vundeter's open hand out of the way and delivered two powerful blasts to his jaw. Vundeter fell on the ground. Danny thought he defeated him.

Danny ran out of the room as quickly as he could after fighting Vundeter. He transformed back into his human form as he ran, but he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. He almost rammed into Raschenda, who was staring at him running down the hall.

"Well, well, it seems as though you've grown stronger," Raschenda said, watching Danny pant after running through the fortress and fighting Vundeter. "I take it you want your powers?"

"It would be appreciated," Danny said smugly as he stared at her. "Don't make me fight you, too!"

"Silence!" Raschenda yelled, her seductive voice suddenly turned violent and fierce. "You seem to be more stubborn than I thought. Perhaps you'd like a few minutes in our interrogation room."

"That doesn't sound too good. And all I wanted was a good night's sleep for once," Danny moaned.

Raschenda grabbed Danny and led him through the fortress and to the torture chamber. It was the same one has was in the first time he was dragged to the Esceron base. He didn't like the place the first time, and he was _really_ sure he wouldn't think too much of it this time, either."


	15. Stolen Information

Vundeter dragged Danny into a dungeon, and Danny thought that he would spend the next few hours, possibly days in pure torment as the Raschenda and Vundeter tried to get him to say whatever the heck they wanted to hear him say. The dungeon was dark, and it looked like a small box with black bricks as the walls. The room felt cold enough to make someone feel like they needed a sweatshirt and a thick blanket.

"So, Ghost Child," Vundeter said, throwing Danny in the cell and closing the door behind them, sealing off Danny's only escape route, "why do you insist on not lending us your powers?"

"Look, it's not like I trust the other guys, either," Danny said, giving a cold glare to Vundeter, their eyes seemingly connecting as they were staring. "If I had my way, I'd find someway to get rid you both. That would solve _my_ problem!"

Vundeter seemed to get very annoyed with this remark, but then he suddenly asked Danny a question. It was so abrupt it nearly made Danny jump.

"Why did you decide to lend your power to the Maldums anyway?" Vundeter demanded, reaching into his pocket.

"I didn't!" Danny insisted. "I just tried using my powers, and they wouldn't work!"

"Then how do you explain they had a vat of your powers in their base?" Vundeter said coldly, pulling something out of his pocket. It looked like a small needle, but Danny was sure it was for something more dangerous.

"I…I don't know," Danny said. His eyes widened in terror as he saw Vundeter approaching him with the needle. "Hey, look man, don't you even think about touching me with that thing! I'll hit you so hard you'll…"

"Save your strength, kid," Vundeter said, cuffing his hand over Danny's mouth. He pushed his hand down on Danny and apparently kept him from getting up. "I don't want to…actually, I _do_ want to use this," he said, showing Danny the needle, "but I don't think you want me to use it, so I'll stow it away…for now!"

Vundeter slowly lifted his hand off of Danny's mouth and crossed his arms. "Now, if you didn't give your powers to the Maldums, then how could they have obtained them?"

"I don't know!" Danny yelled. "I didn't give them my powers! I didn't even know they existed until you came into my life!"

Without warning, Vundeter jabbed the needle into Danny's arm violently. Danny screeched in pain as he felt the needle pierce through his skin and into his blood. Vundeter then yelled, "Fire touch!" and all the pain Danny was in suddenly felt like a raging fire. After listening to Danny moan in pain, Vundeter pulled the needle out of Danny's arm, leaving what looked like a small burnt patch on his arm where he punctured Danny.

"I can also use a cold setting on that needle if you'd like," Vundeter said, crossing his arms with the needle still in his hand. "Now, I know with things like your ghost sense, you can detect ghosts, even when they're taking the form of someone. So, we can't say you had your powers _stolen_ from you, otherwise your ghost sense would have gone off, telling you that a ghost was present. Do you understand me?"

"I have no clue," Danny said. "If that's what you want to think, then great! But listen here, my powers stopped working and that's all I know! The next time I saw them was in that vat. Oh, and I also know that you and Raschenda are fighting those Myrus and Cobarrk dudes. There! That's all I know. Ya happy?"

Vundeter continued to glare at Danny, and just when he was ready to stab Danny's arm again, Raschenda opened the door.

"Vundeter! Let him go!" Raschenda commanded.

Vundeter had a look of confusion on his face, then reluctantly let Danny walk out. Danny wanted nothing more than to drop the subject, but he couldn't help but ask Raschenda as he was leaving the dungeon "Yo, what's up? What's going on here?"

"We have received information from our spies. It seems as though everything you had to go through over those few weeks was planned. They were able to hack into the Maldum computer and retrieve this information." Raschenda said in her creepy, seductive voice. She never took her eyes off Danny as she was saying this.

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked in excitement. "What have I been through, other than getting way too many visits from you guys?"

"You are unaware of what I am talking about?" Raschenda said. "That is good, you're better off not knowing."

"What?" Danny said. "Why!"

"I need not explain," Raschenda said. "You are free to go, but be sure to join our side if you really want to hear what information we have brought back."

"Whatever," Danny said. Saying this, he turned ghost and flew out of the fortress as fast as he could. He flew back to the portal that led to his house. This was becoming way too confusing for him. What information did Raschenda mean?

It didn't matter to Danny. Soon enough, he brought Sam and Tucker over his house and told them everything that just happened.

"So, let me get this straight," Sam said in her flat, almost non-caring voice. "Four different ghosts have been following you, and they're all enemies to each other?"

"Not quite," Danny said. "Myrus and Cobaark are friends, and Raschenda and Vundeter are friends. There's a war going on between them, and both sides demand I join forces with them and try to beat the other down."

"Well, which one are you going to side with?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Danny said. "I don't like any of them. I'd just like to beat them _all_ to a pulp so I won't have to worry about this anymore."

"Then why don't you?" Sam said. "You've fought so many ghosts and gained so many new abilities. Why can't you just fight them?"

"Because, as luck would have it, my powers just disappeared!" Danny yelled, throwing his arms up in the air. "The very same week those ghosts showed up, my powers stopped working!"

"Well, it may seem pretty obvious to me," Sam said, a small smile slowly forming on her face, "but don't you think there's a connection between the two? I mean, think about it: your powers start disappearing, and then some random ghosts you've never even met come up to you and tell you to help them."

"Well, my powers _were_ in the Maldum base," Danny said, his eyes drifting off and starting to stare at the floor. "But how could the Maldums have taken my power? If they came too close to me, then my ghost sense would have gone off! There's no way they could have taken my powers!"

"If you ask me," Tucker said, picking up the Fenton Thermos, "I think the answer to your problems may be this thermos."

"What, you think my powers are locked away in there?" Danny said.

"No," Tucker said. "Why don't you just suck those four ghosts into this thermos? No ghosts, no war, no problems!"

Danny stared at Tucker for a second, then slapped his hand on his forehead and pulled his hand down his face forcefully.

"I'm such an idiot!" Danny yelled, grabbing the Fenton Thermos from Tucker. "If I wasn't so stressed out lately, I would have figured out I could just trap those ghosts and I could just forget about this whole incident."

Danny started walking up the stairs with the Fenton Thermos clutched in his hand, saying "Those ghosts are gonna pay!"

As he said this, he heard his dad yell "Did somebody say 'ghost'!" After hearing this, Danny saw his dad charging down the stairs. In fact, his dad was coming down so fast he didn't see Danny standing at the foot of the stairs. In a painful blow, Danny's dad rammed into Danny on the stairs, sending the Fenton Thermos in Danny's hands flying into the air.

Danny was knocked to the ground by the blow, and when he finally got up, he saw the Fenton Thermos smash into the wall and break into tiny pieces.

"Oh…that's not good," Danny's dad said, towering over Danny as Danny got up. "But, that's okay! I can just make another one!"

"Uh, great," Danny said. "When will it be ready?"

"Oh, probably about two weeks," Danny's dad said calmly.

"Two weeks!" Danny yelled. "I can't wait that long! I've got to fight two gh…"

Danny's dad immediately caught interested and turned around, cradling the remains of the Fenton Thermos in his arms.

"I'm, uh…going to be fighting…gophers!" Danny said. "It's for, uh…school? Yeah, it's for school and I need the Fenton Thermos to do it!"

Danny was hoping his dad would buy it, and being the complete maniac he is, his dad believed it. He walked up the stairs and thought about how he could repair the thermos or make a new one. Danny was pretty helpless now, without most of his powers and now without the one thing he could use to stop all four ghosts from whatever they were plotting.

Just as Danny was ready to start complaining, Sam softly said, "Your powers in a vial…four ghosts, two sides…trying to get you to join them…that's it!"

"Hmmm?" Danny said through closed lips as he looked at Sam, curious as to what she was getting at.

"I think I know what those ghosts are up to!" Sam said. "I think I know what they're all planning!"


	16. Sam's Hypothesis

"Really?" Danny said, his voice getting higher with an obvious level of excitement rising in it. "You think you may know why those ghosts want me?"

"Yup," Sam said. "Think of it like this: they want you to help them fight in a war between each other. Am I right so far?"

"So far, so good."

"Well," Sam continued. "You said that the Maldums imagined a peaceful world where everyone can get along and there would be no risk of war, right?"

"That's right."

"Well, here's what I'm thinking," Sam said. "I think that both ghosts are possibly trying to trick you into thinking something that you shouldn't."

Danny immediately lost the gleam in his eyes and instead had an expression of confusion and disappointment all over his face. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, here's what I have so far: the ghosts at war imagine a peaceful world and that you would be the missing piece of the puzzle. However, both sides knew that you wouldn't trust either of them, so they decided to steal your powers."

"You think those ghosts were the ones who stole my powers?" Danny asked.

"Danny, you can't tell me you haven't already suspected that. Both sides have your power, right?"

"Uh…right."

"So," Sam said, raising her voice a little, "I think it's safe to say that one of the ghost armies stole your powers! And they're the ghosts who you probably shouldn't join in war, because they're probably the more hostile ones."

"I guess so," Danny said, "but I don't know which side stole my powers. Right now, both the Escersons and the Maldums have an equal amount of my power. How do I know which ones stole my power?"

"Maybe they both stole it?" Tucker said, butting into the conversation.

"Or, maybe one of the ghosts stole _all_ your powers and the other ghost army stole half of what the other ghost stole from you," Sam said in a state of deep thought.

"Or maybe they're both trying to manipulate you and are just putting on some act," Tucker said. "Who knows?"

"Guys, I appreciate your help," Danny said with a sad expression on his face, "but you're making me even more confused than I already am."

Sam and Tucker immediately gave that sorry-I-was-only-trying-to-help look. After seeing that they were only trying to give him their best advice, Danny sighed and sat down on the floor. He covered his eyes in his hands and looked like he was getting extremely worn down. Finally, Tucker said something that would change Danny's entire perspective.

"Wait a minute," Tucker said. "What ghost was it that showed you your powers in a vial?"

"Uh…I think it was Raschenda," Danny said.

"And what army was she on?"

"She said she was the leader of the Escerons."

"Well, I think the Escerons are the ones who you should be watching out for," Tucker said. "Think about it: they show you your powers in that vial and show you that you are obviously weaker than you should be. Sounds to me like they're trying to bring you down, and that's not what your allies should do."

"I really don't know, Tuck," Danny said. "But, come to think of it…they _were_ causing me a lot of problems. I mean, they attacked you guys at the mall, then they captured me…twice. And they also tortured me while I was there and insisted I tell them any information I know on the Maldums."

"They sound pretty hostile to me," Sam said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Tucker, you might be right. Danny, I think you should side with the Maldums. The Escerons tortured you and they are taunting you that you don't have your powers. If you don't think it matters which army you join, then you should go with the army that wasn't so aggressive."

Danny thought about it. "Maybe you're right…" he thought to himself. He took a few moments to think about it until he finally agreed.

"You guys are right!" he said. "The Maldums are the army I should join with! I don't think it'll matter who wins the war, so I might as well join whichever army I'm feeling more comfortable with. And out of the two, I _definitely_ feel more comfortable with the Maldums!"

That was all Danny needed. Now, he had reason to join the Maldums. This war wouldn't affect him in anyway, so he just wanted to side with the Maldums because they were friendlier with them. He couldn't wait to tell Myrus the next time he popped up that he had decided to side with him.


	17. Deciding Loyalty

Danny went to bed excited that night, knowing that he had finally chosen which army he wanted to join in the Ghost Zone. After realizing that they had been far less aggressive towards him, Danny decided he was going to join Myrus and Cobaark in the Maldum army.

As Danny was slowly getting off to sleep, he felt a cold shrill wind come into hid bedroom. It jolted him awake, and Danny sat up quickly. He looked around for a little bit, and then saw Myrus staring at him. Myrus had found his way into Danny's room and was now glaring into his eyes with a look that would terrify anyone. However, with the news Danny had for him, he wasn't afraid of Myrus. In fact, he _wanted_ Myrus to come.

"Ghost Child," Myrus said in his dark, intimidating voice. "I have given you a few days to decide where your loyalties lie. Have you decided?"

"Yes, I have!" Danny said, smiling. He hopped out of bed and went right up to Myrus. "I'm glad you came, because I've decided to join you and not the others."

Myrus immediately started smiling. "Splendid," he said. "You have made the right choice."

"I will do anything to stop Raschenda and Vundeter from beating you in this war!" Danny said, suddenly having a burst of confidence. "I don't think I can call those two 'friends' after putting me into two torture sessions and attacking me and threatening my friends!"

"Marvelous," Myrus said. "Come. I will take you to our base."

Myrus grabbed Danny's and waved his own arm in a certain way to teleport them both to the Maldum base. They were both in that high, dark room that Danny and the Escerons had been in when they had to confront Cobaark.

"Now, Danny," Myrus said as he and Danny both zapped into the room. "Let me show you the important things in this base."

Saying this, he led Danny out of the room and down a long, winding stairway. There were a lot of doors on the side, but Myrus didn't go into any of them. When they had walked for about thirty seconds, Myrus led Danny off the stairs and into a large room.

In that large room, Cobaark was sitting at a computer and hitting a lot of keys on the keyboard. He seemed to be staring at something very intently on the screen. Danny tried to look at what was on the screen, but he just saw a bunch of letters and numbers that didn't mean anything to him.

"Danny, I'm sure you remember Cobaark; and Cobaark, I'm sure you remember Danny?" Myrus said with a smile on his face, making gestures for the two to look at each other.

Cobaark looked at Danny, and the look he gave Danny was less than pleasant. He still looked like he was angry with Danny for having to fight him a few days before when the Escerons went into the base.

"Cobaark is a brilliant ghost," Myrus explained. "Right now, he is working on a new project I have recently assigned him: the Ectoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing project. You can call it EMV for short."

"Uh, what's that?" Danny said. He couldn't help but ask.

"Wonderful question," Myrus said. "The Ectoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing ray is a new weapon for ghosts that can be enabled by being hooked up to a machine that flows the power to you. Cobaark has been working hard on it, and he thinks he's almost completed it."

"But, what can it do?" Danny asked, crossing his arms.

"It is a very powerful ability," Myrus said. "It is for help in this war. It is capable of completely vaporizing anything…_anything!_ From tissue to concrete, anything an EMV hits will disintegrate."

"Anything?" Danny said, smiling in amazement. "Even a…"

Danny cut himself off. He saw Myrus nodding his head, he knew what Danny was about to say.

"Awesome," Danny said, awestruck. "Now, why exactly were you and the Escerons fighting anyway?"

Myrus chuckled, and then responded, "You see, the Maldums are fighting in this war because we believe in peace in both the Ghost Zone and your world."

"If you believe in peace, then how come you're fighting?"

"You see, Cobaark and I and our followers all started talking about how we could come to peace, but apparently, the Escerons overheard our plans and immediately demanded we stop or else they would make us stop."

"What was your plan?"

"We planned on making everyone of the same nation," Myrus said. "And we thought we knew how. However, those Escerons didn't believe it would happen and said it would only cause trouble and that people would die in the process."

"What?" Danny asked. He was very confused now. "But, why did…"

"Listen!" Myrus yelled. "We need to restore world peace in the Ghost Zone and in your world. We can make it happen; I know we can! What do you say?"

"Uh, I don't know," Danny said, starting to feel a little uneasy. "This is becoming a lot more complicated than I thought it would be."

"You don't want to have to go through battling ghost after ghost on a daily basis anymore, do you?" Myrus sneered. "If you truly think we can accomplish what we wish to, then you won't have to worry about battling those ghosts anymore."

"All right!" Danny said. "I really don't want to put up with that stuff anymore, so I'll stick to your side."

"Excellent," Myrus said with a smile starting to spread across his dark face. "Well, are you ready for your first assignment?"

"What?" Danny said, becoming uneasy again. "What do you mean 'my first assignment'?"

"Well, you didn't think joining us in this war was going to be a walk in the park, did you?" Myrus said with a surprised tone to his voice. "No way. If you're going to fight with us in this war, kid, you're going to have to do your share of work. So, let me ask again: are you ready for your first assignment?"

"Uh…yeah, I guess so," Danny said, not knowing what else to say.

"Good," Myrus said. "Because this is going to be a personal mission for you. You are going to go into the Esceron's base and you are going to steal back all of your powers that they stole."

"What? Steal back my powers? Why? Couldn't I just get the Ectoplasma ray thingy that you say will vaporize anyone?"

"No," Myrus said. "First of all, that isn't finished yet. Second, you are going to need to train to be a good soldier in our army, and you need your powers to be trained. With the small amount of power you have now, you can barely fight at all. Steal your powers back, and you'll be ready to fight again."

"All right," Danny said. "I guess I'm off, then."

Danny turned ghost. His pajamas turned into that black jumpsuit, his black hair turned snow white and his pale blue eyes turned an eerie shade of green. "Wish me luck," he said, ready to fly off towards the Esceron base.

"Oh, and Ghost Boy, one more thing," Myrus said.

Danny froze in his tracks and turned back to see what it was that Myrus wanted to say.

"It never hurts to bring back some useful information," Myrus said as Danny continued to pay attention to him. "Find out anything you can about the Escerons and tell us _all_ of it. Understood?"

"Yeah," Danny said.

After knowing for sure Myrus had nothing else to say, Danny turned invisible and flew out of the Maldum base. He knew exactly where to find the Esceron base. He just hoped for the best of luck. It wasn't going to be easy getting his powers back AND trying to sneak some information, especially out of Raschenda and Vundeter.


	18. Danny's First Mission

"All right," Danny said. "I guess I'm ready to go to the Esceron base. I'll do whatever you want me to do, just please don't make me do anything dangerous. I don't have many of my powers in case there's an emergency."

"I'm aware," Myrus said. "Luckily, I don't think the Escerons would lay a finger on you. They think you are too important to them to be hurt."

"But wait…" Danny said. "Couldn't you at least give me my powers back for the mission?" Danny said. "I'm really not too comfortable with going in barely able to defend myself."

"Best of luck," Myrus said, completely ignoring what Danny said. Saying this, he fired some energy out of his hand and struck Danny with it. A yellow glow started to surround Danny, and Myrus yelled "Enemy base!"

Saying this, bright lights fired out of the yellow glow, and there were flashes that were almost going fast enough to cause a seizure. After one massive flash, Danny disappeared. All he saw was white, and when he could finally see again, he was in a familiar place.

"This is the Esceron base…" Danny said. "Wow. Myrus apparently has teleportation skills. I wish I had those to get out of Lancer's classes."

He looked around. The hallways still looked dark, the tile was still cold and made a chilling echo as Danny stepped on it as he walked through the base.

"Hello!" Danny yelled loudly. He heard his voice yell loudly through the echoing halls, then listened to it slowly die down after hearing it consecutively for about four times. "Hello!" he called again. Nothing but silence and chilling echoes.

With this empty and eerie surrounding, Danny felt more like he was in a haunted house instead of a base where ghosts plotted in war. There were no sounds of any ghosts, including Raschenda, Vundeter, or even any Esceron grunts that the two might have recruited.

"Raschenda!" Danny yelled as he continued to walk through the dark rooms, looking for any ghosts. "Vundeter? Anybody?"

Danny lost his breath when he felt a cold hand on his shoulder. He gasped and turned around, only to find that it was Raschenda.

"Hello, Danny," Raschenda said in her seductive, almost evil tone. "What brings you to this place? We're usually the ones to drop in on you."

"Uh, I'm here because I have something I want to…uh…tell you and Vundeter."

"Well, let's hear it," Raschenda said. She crossed her arms and fixed her eyes on Danny.

Danny was now pretty nervous. He had to put on the best poker face he could in hopes of tricking Raschenda with whatever he was going to say to convince her that he was siding with the Escerons, even though he really wasn't. But that glare in Raschenda's eyes bothered Danny. She looked like she was expecting a lie and could spot it before he even started telling it.

"Well, uh…I was, actually, uh…saying that I'm going to join you guys in battle and not the Maldums!"

A dark smile seemed to form across Raschenda's face. "Well, well, well," she said in her creepy tone. "It looks like you have made the right decision.

_That's what Myrus said,_ Danny thought to himself. "Uh, yeah. I'm joining with you guys. Those Maldums look like bad news and I really don't trust them."

"Really?" Raschenda said. Danny could tell she was becoming interested in what Danny was saying and that he really needed to keep it cool so she wouldn't get suspicious.

"Really!" Danny insisted pretty loudly. "I'll do anything I can to help you guys beat those Maldums!"

"Splendid," Raschenda said. Her voice seemed to be getting creepier and creepier with every sentence she said.

"Well, now that we're all friends, how about sharing some top secret information with me?" Danny said, trying to make himself sound as innocent as possible.

Raschenda started laughing, and then he knew that she wouldn't say much.

"Dear boy," Raschenda said, "you aren't even officially a solider in our army. You think I'm just going to spill all our battle plans out to you?"

"Well, I thought I was the only one who could really help you," Danny said. He was trying to convince her as best he could that giving him information was the smartest thing she could do. Little did Raschenda know that any information she gave Danny, Danny was going to give to the Maldums. Danny tried his best not to blow his cover or to mention the Maldums at all. He tried to make Raschenda think that giving him, their ultimate "weapon" against the Maldums some information, that would help them out with the strategy that the Escerons needed to use.

"I'm afraid that information is top secret," Raschenda said. "Only Vundeter and I know what it is, and we're not going to tell you _any _of it."

Danny was going to keep begging her to tell him a little bit of information, but he doubted that it would work. Plus, he thought that would only make himself look more suspicious. He decided to just drop the subject there and instead ask another question: a more personal one.

"Well, can I at least have some of powers back?" Danny said. "I could really use them when I go to help you fight in that war."

"No, we need those powers, too," Raschenda said. "If you got those powers back, then the Maldums could just capture you and extract them. We tried the same thing and failed."

"Come on!" Danny said. "How am I going to be able to fight without any powers? You saw me when we attacked the Maldum base and I was able to turn into my ghost form! I didn't have any offensive powers!"

"Well, your powers will be put to good use in this war. Don't worry."

Saying this, Raschenda walked off. Danny didn't know whether or not he should follow her or if he should look around for any hidden information, or better yet, his powers.

Not passing up the opportunity of being able scavenge the entire Maldum base without someone bothering him or watching him, Danny walked around in every single room he could find, looking for a book or computer or anything that would contain anything that the Escerons were hiding that could prove useful to the Maldums.

After searching in several rooms, Danny was about ready to give up. He was now on the top floor of the base, and that was pretty high up. Danny went through all the long winding passages and staircases that would take him anywhere, but no sign of anything. There was nothing that would help Danny or the Maldums stashed away somewhere in the base. That is, not until Danny checked the very last room on the top floor.

Danny walked in, and there was nothing except a long walkway out to a circular platform in the middle of the room. Other than that, the room was nothing except a giant fall to the bottom of the base.

Danny looked up, and he saw something on the platform in the middle of the room: it was a pillar, and on the pillar was a clear box that had a vial in it. In the vial was a thick, green glowing substance.

"My powers!" Danny yelled.

Danny had just found some more of his powers, but the look of excitement and relief on his face soon turned to fear when he saw what the entire room was like. Walking along a narrow walkway to a platform in the middle of the room didn't look entirely safe, especially since Danny would fall hundreds of feet if he slipped.

"Ya know, it's times like this when I wish I had better coordination," Danny said. He slowly took a step on the walkway, and it turned out to be much wider than he thought it was. At least there wasn't such a huge risk of falling now.

Danny made his way across, careful not to lose his footing or to slip. After what seemed like forever, he finally made his way to the small, circular platform. It was connected to the walkway, but it seemed to be hovering in midair.

Danny tried his best to ignore this. He grabbed the clear box with the vial of his powers in it, hoping he could take the vial out and drink it to get his powers back, just like he did a few days before.

Unfortunately for Danny, the box wasn't budging. It was as if the box had fused to the pillar that was holding it up. There were no doors or any way to open the box to get the vial.

"Oh, great!" Danny said. "Those Escerons knew I'd probably want my powers back and come looking, so they made it impossible to get at by putting it in an enclosed box with no way to open it."

Then, the look of depression on Danny's face soon turned excited but evil at the same time.

"Well, I'll betcha the Escerons forgot I could do this!" Danny said. Saying this, he turned invisible and gave himself the ability to go through solid things. The Escerons apparently failed to take into account that Danny could now use SOME of his powers that he got when they attacked the Maldum base days before.

Danny's arm reached through the clear plastic box and grabbed the vial. He made the vial go invisible and easily slipped it out of the box.

With a wide grin on his face, Danny turned visible again and stared at the vial of his powers in his hand. However, that grin soon turned to a frown of fear and frustration when he looked up.

Standing at the end of the pathway, the only way out of the room, was Vundeter. He was staring at Danny with perhaps the coldest eyes Danny has ever seen Vundeter give him and Vundeter's arms were crossed.

"Drop the vial!" Vundeter commanded.


	19. A Second Fight with Vundeter

Danny stared, partly filled with fear, partly filled with anger. And for whatever reason, part of him was filled with guts and the urge to push the limits. The latter feeling was the one that eventually won over.

Danny's nervous eyes suddenly hardened and became full of rage and determination. Clenching his fists, he tightened his grip on the glowing vial in his hand. He stared at Vundeter with eyes that were saying, "you don't want to mess with me".

"I'm not going to tell you again," Vundeter said in a low, angry voice. There was a few seconds of silence before he suddenly raged "DROP THE VIAL!"

Despite the fact that snap from Vundeter scared the living daylights out of Danny, Danny still kept that determined look on his face. Slowly, he raised the vial to his face.

"Oh, you mean _this_ vial?" Danny said in an aggressive voice. He opened the vial and drank down all the liquid in it in one gulp. Instantly, Danny saw lights bursting from him and he felt his strength suddenly increasing. He felt much stronger and more powerful now. In fact, he felt almost as powerful as he felt before he lost his powers.

_What's with this_, Danny thought to himself as he felt himself getting powered up after drinking the vial. _If I still only have two-thirds of my powers, why do I feel like I'm just as powerful as I did before I lost my powers to begin with? I guess I forgot how powerful I was…_

After those thoughts raced through Danny's head, Danny's expression turned nasty. He held the vial over the edge of the floating platform, never taking his eyes off Vundeter. Vundeter looked ready to kill Danny from anger and rage.

Without saying a word, Danny simply dropped the vial. He watched it fall hundreds of feet to the ground, until he eventually heard it smash to pieces at the bottom of the base.

"There, I dropped it," Danny said, smiling and crossing his arms.

Vundeter screamed in rage, then, without warning, he leapt into the air and started charging at Danny has fast as he could. He was going to smash into Danny head-on with such force that Danny would be knocked off the platform and fall to the bottom of the base.

Danny gasped, then used his sharpest reflex to go intangible. He turned intangible just as Vundeter would have struck him. After Vundeter halted in motion as he passed through Danny, he sharply turned around and looked ready to strike him again.

"Oh boy," Danny said. "Something tells me this guy wants a fight."

As Vundeter came charging back, Danny once again went intangible and felt nothing as Vundeter passed right through him. After Vundeter went through him a second time, Danny turned ghost and started hovering in the air.

"Sorry, did I make you angry?" Danny said as he started floating, clenching his fists while staring Vundeter straight in the eyes.

Vundeter didn't say anything. He just put his hands out and fired a blast of energy at Danny. Danny's quick reflexes didn't let him down, as he was able to dodge the blast just in time.

"I'll take that as a yes," Danny said, trying to keep himself moving so Vundeter couldn't land an accurate shot on him.

For what seemed like forever, Vundeter fired blast after blast of energy at Danny, and Danny continued to dodge them just by a hair. After a while, Danny finally realized that he couldn't keep this up.

"I'm not going to live if I only keep dodging his blasts," Danny said. "If I want to get away from this guy, I'm going to have to show him some resistance. I hope that vial gave me some of my _offensive_ powers back."

Danny put out his hands and attempted to fire some ghostly energy at Vundeter. To Danny's relief, it worked. Vundeter was caught off guard when Danny's blast sent him flying back against a wall.

"Weren't expecting that, were ya?" Danny said, hovering in mid air and crossing his arms. However, Danny saw that Vundeter made a very fast recovery and was up and fighting again in no time.

"You're ghost blast is more powerful than Raschenda or I thought," Vundeter mumbled.

"You're a lot stronger than I thought too," Danny said, trying his best to stay on his guard. He didn't want Vundeter to pull any sneak attacks while they were talking. "Much stronger than when I had to fight you a while ago, at least."

Vundeter sneered. "You think I was actually _trying_ to fight you that time?" Vundeter said in a surprised manner. "If I really tried to fight you, then you would become mince meat within minutes, and Raschenda would have my head for it!"

Saying this, Vundeter fired another blast of energy at Danny, but Danny was still alert enough to dodge it.

"You'd better be nice," Danny warned. "You'd hate for that Raschenda lady to find out you're actually trying to hurt me now, wouldn't you?"

Vundeter seemed to get annoyed with this, and then lunged at Danny again. This time, Danny didn't go intangible, but instead ducked out of the way. Vundeter, being completely carried by momentum as he launched himself at Danny, smashed into the wall head-first when Danny ducked out of his path.

After recovering from smashing his head into the wall, Vundeter saw Danny hovering beneath the platform, so he was now floating above the high drop to the bottom of the base.

Vundeter charged down after him, and the two ghosts starting getting into a physical fistfight in midair. They both took turns throwing their hardest punches, along with blocking their opponent's blows as well.

After fighting for several minutes, Danny finally got the upper hand and gave Vundeter the hardest uppercut he could muster. Vundeter was launched with so much force he hit the ceiling to the base. Danny took this opportunity to escape as fast as he could.

Vundeter looked down and saw Danny flying away. He instantly started firing more blasts of energy at Danny as Danny flew down the empty shaft to the base. Danny moved from side to side, missing all the blasts Vundeter sent flying down at him.

Just as Danny was about to ram into the floor of the base, he made a ninety-degree turn and started flying parallel to the floor. Vundeter made a few last effort shots to hit Danny with his blasts of energy, but with Danny flying just inches above the ground and Vundeter hovering hundreds of feet in the air (just below the ceiling) he had no hopes of hitting Danny. Vundeter watched in frustration as he saw Danny fly out the door to the base.

Danny escaped the Esceron base unharmed. In fact, he came out better than how he entered. When he entered the Esceron base, he didn't have any offensive powers, but now he had more powers to defend himself instead of just blocks and barriers, or going invisible and intangible.

As Danny flew out of the base, he suddenly stopped and turned back. He stared at the Esceron base for a few seconds before eventually saying, "looks like a pretty big base. I'd better destroy it."

Danny took the deepest breath he could, and then started wailing the way one would imagine a stereotypical ghost wail. He was hoping that his powerful ghost wail would erupt from his mouth and tear the base to shreds, but he had no luck.

"Darn!" Danny said. "I guess that vial didn't have the powers to my ghostly wail in it. Oh well, the Maldums have the last one-third of my power, I can get it from them when I return to the base."

In no time at all, Danny arrived back at the Maldum base, where Myrus seemed to be expecting him.

"Well, Danny, how did your first mission go?" Myrus asked with a creepy smile on his face, crossing his arms.

"Well, I got some good news and some bad news," Danny replied, turning back into his human form.

Although he didn't say anything, Myrus stared at Danny with eyes full of fascination.

"The good news is that I got some of my powers back and I really put a beating on that Vundeter dude. He won't have the guts to mess with me again for a while."

"I see," Myrus said. "And the bad news?"

"The bad news is that I didn't get any information about what the Escerons are plotting. I looked around, but I didn't find where any of their plans were."

Myrus seemed really disappointed by this, but he didn't say anything. He just turned around walked back into his base. Danny started following him, thinking that he should. Danny followed Myrus through the complex Maldum base, until Myrus was in the room where Cobaark was still working at the computer.

"Lord Myrus," Cobaark said as Myrus walked in. "How did the Ghost Boy succeed in his first mission. How did you do, Danny?"

Saying this, Cobaark turned his head toward Danny. Myrus' expression turned surprised, then turned around. He wasn't expecting to see Danny there.

"Danny?" Myrus said. "I didn't tell you to follow me here, did I?" Myrus said. "Well, no matter. You can go home now and play some of those video games. Or sleep. Or do anything."

"Uh…okay. Sorry," Danny said, starting to turn around.

As Danny was walking out the door, he heard Myrus start talking to Cobaark.

"Cobaark, you and I need to analyze this situation and plan our next move," Myrus said.

Gaining interest, Danny stopped and turned around. He saw Cobaark get up from the computer and nod in agreement. He saw the two ghosts walk off, their capes flowing in the air as they walked to another room. It was like Myrus had even forgotten Danny was there.

Danny didn't think he should go follow them, but he saw that Cobaark left the computer on when he got up to go strategize with Myrus. With curiosity taking over Danny's mind, he went over to the computer to see what Cobaark was doing.

On the computer screen, Danny saw in big letters **ENDOPLASMIC MOLECULAR VAPORIZING PROJECT (EMVP)** Danny tried looking at what the computer screen said, but all Danny saw was a bunch of letters and numbers used to make complex formulas that Danny had no idea of what was being stated in them.

"Pfft, how do these ghosts understand this stuff?" Danny said, looking at the screen. He was about to get up and go home until he saw a window at the bottom of the screen. Danny curiously slumped back into the chair and clicked on the window, opening it.

Once the window opened, Danny saw a page that read:  
PLANS FOR WAR.

Considering the fact he thought he was on the Maldum's side, Danny thought he had every right to look at the battle plans. As soon as the window opened, another window popped up that said WOULD YOU LIKE TO LOOK AT THE PLAN FROM PHASE ONE, followed by a YES and NO button right below it.

Danny clicked on the YES button, hoping to see what the Maldum's earliest plans were and if there was anyway he could help. When he saw what the Maldum's early plans were, Danny was in a complete state of shock. He couldn't believe what he saw Myrus and Cobaark's plans were.


	20. Learning the Truth

Before I begin this chapter, I'd just like to say thanks again to all the people who have reviewed this story. Thank you guys for telling me to update soon, because it really gives me motivation to continue.

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Danny could not believe a single thing he was reading. Unfortunately to him, it all made too much sense. Danny read the Maldums' plans on the computer screen, unable to say anything.

_Phase 1:_

_Look forward to Danny Phantom's schedule. Find week he will have the most work to make up if he misses a day of school._

_Phase 2:_

When week has been decided, overshadow lunch ladies and give Danny contaminated cafeteria food. Even though all food is contaminated, it will only affect Danny. The chemical contaminants will only make ghosts sick. Danny will get sick and have to miss school the next day, giving him a lot of work to make up.

Danny tried to take in all the information he just read. Myrus and Cobaark and the other Maldums were planning ahead to find the week Danny would be stressed out the most if he missed a day of school, and then did everything to make sure he missed the day that would cost him the most. In order to make sure he missed that day of school, the Maldums contaminated the cafeteria food so that only people who had ghost blood in them would be infected. Danny read this and couldn't believe it, but he still had a question lingering in his mind: why? Why would the Maldums want him to miss that day of school and be stressed out in the first place? He soon got his answer.

Phase 3:

Make sure Danny's mom gets him into the doctor's office to see what is wrong with him. Overshadow the doctors there and hook him up to the power extractor.

"The Power Extractor?" Danny said breathlessly as he stared at the computer screen in complete shock. "That must have been the machine that I was hooked up to in the doctor's office! Come to think of it…I was hooked up to a machine very similar to that one when I got beat by Vundeter when I first met him at the mall. That must have been what took away my powers! Me being hooked up to the machine!"

Unable to think, Danny tried to take in everything he had just read. The Maldums had made sure he got into the doctor's so they could extract his powers, and they used a high level of ectoplasma in his blood as an excuse to bring him back the whole week. It was all starting to fall together now. Danny thought he knew everything that there was to know in the operation, but he didn't. There was still more to be learned.

Phase 4:

Make sure Danny is given antibiotics. These will actually be capsules researched and designed to make Danny's powers strong. These items will add strength to Danny's power and will be directly proportional to how stressed out he is.

Danny didn't understand it at first, but after reading it a few times, he finally understood. The antibiotics weren't really making Danny feel better; instead they were just making his powers stronger. The more stressed out Danny became, the more powerful the "antibiotics" made him, and that would mean greater powers when the Maldums extracted his powers the entire week. It made total sense to him.

Danny, still unable to say anything, stared at the screen. Finally, his fists clenched and his adrenaline skyrocketed. His entire body was filled with rage, and he suddenly started to shake.

"I've been used!" Danny whispered, his voice full of hatred and anger. "I've been used from the very beginning!"

Danny didn't want to accept it. He went intangible and flew out of the Maldum base. He knew where he had to go: to the Esceron base. Danny knew that this wasn't going to be an easy encounter, having to admit he was wrong to the ghosts he never trusted from the moment he met them.

So now, Danny knew the Maldum's plans from the very beginning. They were going to look into Danny's schedule and try to find the week that he would have a lot of work in school to worry about, and then try to find the day that would be the worst day of the week to miss school. In order to get Danny to miss that one day, the Maldums put something in the cafeteria food that would only make someone who had ghost material in them sick. This caused Danny to get sick and miss school the next day. When his mom brought him to the doctor's office the next day, the doctors were really some Maldums overshadowing the doctors, and the high level of ectoplasma was just a reason to keep bringing Danny back to the doctor's office so they could extract his powers everyday. However, when giving him the antibiotics, they were really enhancing Danny's power. The more stressed out Danny got from school and from the work he missed, the more powerful he would become. The Maldums would then extract that enhanced power and use it in the war against the Escerons.

When Danny finally made it to the Esceron base, he went intangible and snuck in. He looked around very quietly for Raschenda or Vundeter, and when he eventually found them both, he took a deep breath and went up to talk to them.

"Uh…hi," Danny said nervously, walking up to Raschenda and Vundeter. "Look, I know you probably hate me for breaking in and stealing me powers back…"

Saying this, Vundeter growled at him.

"Vundeter, I know you hate me already, so you can just drop it," Danny said. "But look, I just found out the Maldums plan to try to recruit me. And believe it or not, they recruited me without me even knowing about it."

"What are you talking about, Ghost Boy?" Raschenda said in her seductive voice.

Danny told them the entire story about what he had just learned when he went onto the Maldums' computer. He found out about the Maldums extracting his power and enhancing it with the antibiotics they were giving him, and how the stress from school was playing a huge part in it.

"So _that's _why we couldn't extract any of your powers when I captured you at the mall!" Vundeter said. "You were telling the truth the whole time. You _were_ the Ghost Boy, and your powers had already been extracted by the Maldums, and you thought the Maldums were doctors!"

"Really, Sherlock?" Danny said in a sarcastic tone. "Bottom line, I want to side with you guys now. I don't want to join up with ghosts who use me like that!"

Vundeter scowled. "You have been a lot of trouble," Vundeter said, crossing his arms. "I seriously don't want to come here."

"And guess what!" Danny said loudly. "I don't want to come here either, but it looks like I'd rather be here than in the Maldum army. Vundeter, what do you say?"

"It's not my place to decide whether or not you can fight with us," Vundeter said. "That's up to Raschenda."

Saying this, both Danny and Vundeter turned towards Raschenda. Raschenda looked unsure with what she wanted to say, but then said "Very well. I think we will have an advantage if we have you, Danny Phantom."

Danny felt almost relieved to hear Raschenda say she wanted him to fight for the Escerons. But then, he found something to contradict what Raschenda said.

"Raschenda?" Danny said. "I have about two-thirds of my powers now, but the Maldums still have the other third, and that's the one with all my cool ghost powers in it."

"Well then," Raschenda said. "I guess we will have to get those powers of yours back, won't we?"


	21. Strategizing

Danny had now converted to the Escerons after finding out that the Maldums had stolen his power from him and not only refuse to tell him that, but also, they were enhancing it. That entire time, the Maldums had a huge majority of Danny's powers, and his powers were much stronger than they were before the entire ordeal got started. The Escerons and Danny just started talking about how they should strike the Maldum base and steal the remaining third of Danny's powers back.

"Well, the appropriate time of course to attack when they are least expecting it. And Myrus and Cobaark still don't know that Danny has converted to our side, so that should give us a bit of an advantage," Raschenda said in her calm, cool, feminine voice. "Any ideas?"

Vundeter stepped forward and said, "I think an attack later tonight should be the soonest time we attack. That way, the Maldums won't be expecting it, especially with Danny on our side. Who knows? Danny might just be of some use to us trying to get _into_ the base."

"Vundeter, you know that place is going to be heavily guarded," Raschenda pointed out. "Even if Danny were to go intangible, he might cross some invisible trip wires. His cover would, of course, be blown then."

The three continued to think of the best time and way they should attack the Maldum base. The Maldums had pretty tight security, and Myrus and Cobaark were nothing short of ruthless when they found an intruder. Danny was going to have to be careful. Finally, an idea came to him. He had to ask the two ghosts a question that he should have asked when he first met them.

"Hey, guys?" Danny started, completely breaking a silence that was made when the three started strategizing in their heads the way to attack the base, "why exactly are you and the Maldums fighting in this war in the first place?"

Raschenda and Vundeter briefly looked at each other, then Raschenda turned away and started explaining it.

"Well," Raschenda started, "we're fighting the Maldums because they are becoming a bit power-hungry. They're trying to tyrannize over everyone and everything in the ghost zone and make themselves the leaders of everything in the ghost zone, which will eventually lead to taking _your _world."

"What!" Danny said, with an expression of confusion on his face. "That's not what the Maldums told me at all. They said they were trying to keep peace in the ghost zone so I wouldn't have to worry about ghosts attacking me in the real world and so there would be no war in the ghost zone. You guys are telling me just the opposite!"

"The Maldums were misleading you," Vundeter stepped in. "They _think_ by taking over the world and becoming one country that no wars will break out. And the Maldums think that the way to do that is to take over everything and become one supreme nation."

"Well, they're a few fries short of a Happy Meal if they think that," Danny said. "They think that taking over the Ghost Zone and getting ultimate power and whipping out any resistance is the way to peace?"

"That's why we're here," Raschenda explained. "We're trying to stop them from tyrannizing over the ghost zone and eventually your world."

"We heard from some of your enemies that you were extremely powerful and strong," Vundeter said. "After secretly observing you for some time, we saw that you were indeed a strong figure and would make a great ally if we were trying to stop the Maldums from taking over."

"Unfortunately, the Maldums found out about us trying to recruit you, and they ended up stealing your powers from you somehow and planned on using them against us," Raschenda said.

"I know how they stole my powers!" Danny said. "In fact, the reason I'm joining with you guys is _because_ I found out! They made themselves look like doctors and they extracted my powers while trying to make me think it was an operation for the high level of ectoplasma in my blood."

Danny proceeded to telling the Raschenda and Vundeter about everything he learned when taking a peek at Cobaark's computer. They both seemed glad to hear the Maldums' web had finally been untangled.

"Wait a minute," Vundeter said. "How many other doctors were operating on you when they were extracting your powers?"

"Three, not including the one Myrus was overshadowing," Danny replied. "Why?"

"It would have been difficult for the Maldums to overshadow three other doctors without anyone there getting suspicious. Those three other doctors would end up missing any appointments they had, and they would probably end up getting questioned and revealed by some of the other people who worked there," Vundeter said.

"I'll bet they used shape shifting dragons," Raschenda said. "The Maldums have been known to use those before."

"Shape…shifting…dragons?" Danny asked. "Would you mind explaining to me what the heck shape shifting dragons are?"

"They're dragons that can physically duplicate just about anything," Vundeter said. "They're really rare, but the Maldums have only been known to have three. That'll just give us another thing we need to destroy when we eventually attack the Maldum base."

Danny moaned. He thought this mission was just getting harder and harder. He hoped it would just be him having to steal back the remaining third of his power, but now he found out there were dragons involved that he had to destroy. He just wanted the entire ordeal to end.

"Well, at least we have Danny on our side, now," Raschenda said. "That should at least give us _some_ advantage. That is, unless Danny is really deceiving us and everything he just told us is a lie."

"And I don't like liars too much," Vundeter said, pulling out the electric prong he had tortured Danny with a few days before.

Danny had a nervous look on his face, but said, "I swear I'm telling you guys the truth. Now, if you would rather I _didn't_ help you, then that's okay too!"

"Never mind," Raschenda said. "Vundeter, put that thing away. Let's not scare Danny too much. He has a mission to help us accomplish and threatening him isn't the best way to encourage it."

"Look," Danny said. "We're really not getting anywhere here. Why don't I just go to the Maldum base now and try to find the remaining third of my powers? The Maldums won't be expecting a visit from me, so it should give me an advantage."

"And having you on our side should give _us_ an advantage," Vundeter said.

"Best of luck getting your powers back," Raschenda said.

Danny nodded, then went ghost without saying anything. He turned towards the wall, now in his ghost form, and was ready to go. He turned his head to give Raschenda and Vundeter one last look, then went intangible and flew out of the Esceron base. He started piloting himself towards the Maldum base, hoping for the best of luck when trying to obtain the remaining third of his powers.


	22. New Revenge

With more determination than ever, Danny was flying towards the Maldum base. He wanted complete revenge on the Maldums for using him for power purposes and lying to him about what they wanted to do with him if he were to join them. He needed some way to stop the Maldums from trying to launch a complete attack on the Ghost Zone and in the real world, and the best way to hinder those plans would be to steal his powers back that the Maldums originally stole just a few days before.

Danny saw the Maldum base, hovering over the infinite abyss of the Ghost Zone. Now that Danny knew he was going to be against the Maldums, he thought the entire fortress looked more evil than he remembered it. Luckily for him, Myrus and Cobaark didn't know that he had switched to the Escerons' side, which should have given him an advantage.

Danny flew into the Maldum base after going intangible. He started quietly searching around, looking for the room that his powers were stored in. The dark hallways echoed with every step he took, but he tried his best not to make them loud. He searched in every room, but he didn't find a single vial. Danny was just about ready to give up until he heard something in a room down at the very end of the base. He thought he heard two people talking, and he could have sworn there was a machine humming in the background.

Anxious to see what was going on, Danny quietly started floating towards the door to the room he heard noise coming from. He looked in and saw Myrus, and he was hooked up to a large machine. Just as Danny looked in, he saw another ghost start walking away from the machine: Cobaark!

Danny watched Cobaark leave through the back of the room, and then saw Myrus close his eyes. Myrus was on a table very similar to the one Danny was on whenever the Escerons were trying to take his power, and it also looked similar to the table Danny was strapped on when the Myrus and the three shape-shifting dragons were actually stealing his powers from. Danny would even go so far as to say it _was_ the same table.

Cobaark was watching Myrus nervously. Myrus was lying down on the metal table, but he also had a bunch of wires hooked up to him. The wires led back to a giant vat that had a glowing material in it, a material that looked a lot like the stuff that was in the vial with Danny's powers. That was what it had to be, but why would wires be hooked up to Myrus if Danny's power was really in a vat behind them.

_Wait a minute…_Danny thought softly as he stared at Myrus on the table with the wires hooked up to him. Cobaark looked really nervous with what he was about to do. He had no idea what either of them was doing.

"Lord Myrus?" Cobaark asked extremely nervously. Cobaark was standing at a control panel with his hand on a very large switch. "Are you ready to begin?"

"Pull the switch, Cobaark!" Myrus commanded, not looking away or anything.

Cobaark didn't hesitate for a moment. He pulled the massive switch, and on a computer screen above the vat, the words DRAIN INITIATED.

As it was happening, Myrus slowly closed his piercing white eyes while Cobaark bolted out of the back of the room. Danny took this opportunity to quietly go into the room. He looked at the giant machine that Myrus was hooked up to, and Danny finally realized something.

"Wait a minute!" Danny said as softly as he could. "Those _are_ my powers! Myrus is hooking himself up to all those wires, and those wires are attached to that giant vat, and that giant vat has my powers in it! Myrus is draining my powers from that vat and making them flow into _him!_ I gotta stop it!"

Danny thought frantically about how to turn the machine off before he finally turned around and saw the most obvious thing he could do.

"Oh, right. The switch…" Danny said, feeling a little stupid. He went over to the switch and flipped it back in the OFF position. Instantly, the computer and machine loudly shut off. Myrus opened his eyes and looked around, and it didn't take long for him to see Danny standing right there.

"Danny? What are you doing!" Myrus demanded. "How come you aren't trying to sneak information from the Escerons!"

"Why am I not trying to destroy the Escerons?…well, let me see. Oh yes," Danny started in an annoyed, sarcastic tone. "Because the Escerons aren't the ones who stole my power and lied to me about it!"

"What are you talking about?" Myrus tried to say in his best-confused voice.

"Don't play dumb, unless it's natural," Danny said. "I know all about what you guys are trying to do! You're trying to take over the Ghost Zone because you think no wars will break out if you're one giant nation, and to try to beat the Escerons, you disguised yourself as doctors and lied to me about all the high ectoplasma stuff and all that! You just wanted to use my powers and steal them, so you sucked them all out of my body when you were posing as doctors. I know it all."

In a fit of rage, Myrus tore all the wires off of him and screamed as loud as he could. The loud yell was enough to make Danny jump back, and Cobaark came bolting in through the back door to the room.

"My lord, what is it?" Cobaark asked, hoping he didn't do something to hurt Myrus when Myrus was hooked up to the machine.

Myrus looked at Cobaark and said, "Young Danny has just switched to the Escerons' side! I consider him a traitor now, and you know what I think of traitors. Kill him immediately!"

Saying this, Myrus stormed out of the back of the room and slammed the door behind him. Danny turned his head to face Cobaark.

"I may have lost to you once," Cobaark recalled, "but your little Esceron friends aren't here to help you now, are they?"

Saying this, Cobaark fired a blast of energy from his hand at Danny, and Danny flew out of the way just in time to dodge it. He was much faster than Cobaark remembered him being, but Cobaark just had to drop it and continue fighting.

Cobaark began charging at Danny again, this time, forming a ball of energy with both of his hands. Just as he was ready to fire it at Danny, Danny fired some of his own ectoplasmic energy at Cobaark.

Cobaark was sent flying backwards and crashed into a wall. Danny flew over to Cobaark with sharp speed and landed right in front of him.

"I…I don't get it," Cobaark said. "You weren't this strong the last time we fought…"

"Hmmm. Wonder why?" Danny said in a smart aleck tone. He formed a fist and punched Cobaark in the face as hard as he could; so fast that Cobaark's head made a dent in the solid wall behind him as Danny punched his face.

"Oh, that's right. _Now_ I remember!" Danny said, giving Cobaark another solid blow to the face. "Because I only had a _third_ of my powers then! Now I have _two_ thirds, and once I get my powers back from that giant machine Myrus was just hooked up to, I'll have them _all_ back!"

Danny made one more solid blow to Cobaark's head, and Cobaark was clearly in great pain. Danny tried to reach into his pocket to pull out the Fenton Thermos, but then he made a horrible realization.

"Oh no!" Danny said. "My dad broke the Fenton Thermos! Now I can't stop these guys! Oh no…what am I gonna do?"

"I'll tell you what you're _not_ going to do!" Cobaark moaned. "You're not taking your powers from that vat. It is completely ghost proof!"

Thinking Cobaark was too weak to get up and fight, Danny walked over to the giant vat of the glowing green powers. He tried firing some energy at it, but that didn't so much as leave a dent in the vat. Danny tried punching it open, but Danny was only going to break a fist like that.

"Hmmm…this is pretty well secured," Danny said as he looked at the vat. "I'll have to get them some other way. If only I could…"

Before he could finish his trail of thought, Danny was knocked in the back of the head by some energy. He fell to the ground in pain, and looked up. Cobaark began to approach him, and had another ball of energy start to form in his hand.

"You're so pathetic, ya know that?" Cobaark said. He fired the blast of energy and hit Danny in the head with hit. Danny screamed in pain, but to both his and Cobaark's shock, he wasn't dead or unconscious.

Danny tried to get up, but Cobaark stomped on his back as he started to rise, and Danny fell flat on the floor again. He moaned as Cobaark started to form another ball of energy in his hand. There was no way he was going to survive another blast like that if it hit him.

"You could have been great," Cobaark said. "Lord Myrus and I would have treated you like a king if you joined our army. You could have received powers beyond your wildest imagination if you joined us, and you could have been assured you'd never have to fight your rivals again. But no…you just _had_ to choose the foolish path. The _other_ path…"

Danny finally regained some of his strength while Cobaark was giving his great speech, and Danny was able to see Cobaark ready to fire the fatal blast of energy at his head.

Danny finally just flew up into the air as fast as he could, and he tried to grab Cobaark as he was flying up. He succeeded, and carried Cobaark in the air going almost one hundred miles an hour (about fifteen miles an hour slower than he normally would be able to) and as he was just about to hit the ceiling, Danny raised Cobaark's body above his head and smashed Cobaark into the ceiling.

Cobaark moaned in pain as Danny pulled him out from the ceiling. As soon as Danny pulled Cobaark out of the ceiling, he threw Cobaark against a wall. Danny watched as Cobaark tumbled to the ground after he had been launched at the wall.

"And _that_ is why you should never imitate any villains from those cheap action movies!" Danny said. "Didn't you know that always happens when they rant on about how great the good guy would have been if he turned bad? While they're just babbling on and on, the good guy always finds a way to strike back. It's so clichéd it's funny."

Cobaark snarled angrily as he got up. Danny's taunting just infuriated him, and he was ready to attack again.

Cobaark flew up into the air and went right in front of Danny.

"But this isn't one of those action movies, is it?" Cobaark said. "So that doesn't guarantee your survival at all!"

As he said this, Cobaark fired a ball of energy at Danny. Danny did a back flip in the air and just barely dodged the blast.

"But it doesn't guarantee victory for you, either!" Danny countered. He threw the hardest punch he could at Cobaark, but Cobaark just flew out of the way.

For a long time, the two did nothing except exchange punches and energy blasts while just barely dodging their opponent's. It went on and on like that for what seemed like forever, until Danny finally realized this was getting nowhere.

_The fight's never going to end at this rate,_ Danny thought as he continued to act offensively and defensively. _I gotta find some way to distract him and make him think he's won, then get him when he won't be expecting it. But how can I…of course! I can PRETEND I'm dead, then when Cobaark is walking away to tell Myrus he succeeded, I can get them both!_

Trying to make Cobaark the least suspicious he could possibly make him, Danny "accidentally" pushed himself into Cobaark's fist as it went hurtling towards him. Danny pretended to be hugely impacted by the blow and sent himself flying back at the wall. He acted like he was crumpling to the ground, and when he hit the ground, he made himself go out of ghost mode. The white ring erupted from his mid section and split itself into two, then it moved in opposite directions up and down Danny's body. In a matter of seconds, Danny was back in his t-shirt, baggy jeans and shoes. His hair was black again and his eyes went back to pale blue.

Danny pretended to be defeated and unconscious, and hoped Cobaark would buy it. Although Danny had his eyes closed and couldn't see a thing, he could tell Cobaark was approaching him.

"Now, to get rid of the body…" Cobaark said. He lifted Danny up and started carrying him away.

_Gee, would he ever think to check for a pulse?_ Danny thought to himself as Cobaark was carrying him. _First he rants on, practically BEGGING me to get back and attack him, and now he's thinking I'm dead without even checking for any signs of life. How stupid IS this guy?_

Just as Danny was ready to attack, he felt himself get thrown out of Cobaark's arms. He opened his eyes out of instinct and saw he was falling down a large hole. He smashed onto the floor below, and then looked up. He saw the hole in the floor above him getting sealed up, blocking his only escape route. But, that turned out to be the least of his problems. Danny heard heavy breathing, and when he looked in front of him, he saw three giant dragons that looked very hungry.

The dragons looked like giant, fat lizards with a long tail, but their skins were different colors; one had pink skin, another green, and the third had blue skin. They looked like stereotypical dragons.

"I take it these were the shape shifting dragons Raschenda and Vundeter told me about?" Danny said nervously as the three dragons started to close in on him.


	23. The Final Third

Danny watched as the three dragons slowly closed in on him. There wasn't much time left, so he had to think of a way to fight them. Unfortunately, since there were three, he was at a huge disadvantage. He could possibly take two at once, but that would leave him extremely vulnerable to attack from the third one. The dragons were now only a few feet behind him, so he had to think extremely fast now.

As the dark pink one was getting really close to him, Danny fired a blast of plasma energy at the dragon's mouth when it opened it. This caused the dragon to stagger backwards, but Danny turned around just in time to see the blue dragon taking a swing at Danny's head with its massive claws.

Danny formed a fist and punched that dragon in the stomach, but he smashed his hand instead of hurting the dragon in the process. As Danny tried recovering from hurting himself from trying to hurt the blue dragon, he saw the green dragon start storming its way toward him. Danny responded to this by flying up in the air as soon as the dragon came close and just barely missed the dragon as it took a swipe at him.

Now Danny was hovering in the air, but not out of reach from the dragons. The dragons continually took swings at him, and Danny was just barely able to dodge them all.

"All right, enough is enough," Danny said. Saying this, he fired some ectoplasma energy at the pink dragon, knocking it to the ground in pain. "And here's a little bit for you," Danny said, firing some energy at the blue dragon, and it also fell back in pain. "And some for you."

Danny fired energy at the green dragon, but it sprouted wings and started hovering in the air next to him. Danny's cocky smile turned to a shocked expression.

"Well, this can't be too good," Danny said softly as the flying green dragon started gazing upon him. Danny didn't waste any time after making that remark. He charged at the dragon and tried to fire some more energy at it, this time in the eye.

Danny succeeded and knocked the green dragon to the ground. The dragon started screaming in pain so loudly that Danny had to cover his ears and he temporarily squeezed his eyes shut without even realizing it.

As the green dragon recovered, Danny tried firing blasts of energy at all three of them separately, but after a while, the dragons caught on to his pattern. The blue one took a swipe at Danny when he had his back turned and knocked him to the ground.

As Danny smashed face-flat on the ground, he staggered to get up and saw all the dragons beginning to close in on him again. While still in pain from being smashed onto the floor, Danny got up and started firing one long blast of energy and started spinning himself around in a circle while firing it, hoping to be able to hit them all at once.

It looked like it would work for a while, but then all three of the dragons start firing and Danny could see they all planned on smashing into him at the same time. Not knowing what to do, Danny made himself intangible just as the three dragons were about to hit them. All three dragons bashed their heads into each other as Danny hovered out of them, still intangible.

"…or maybe I could have just escaped by going intangible," Danny said to himself, staring at the three dragons in great pain as they were crumpled in a heap together.

Saying this, Danny stayed intangible and passed through the sealed hole that he fell through to get into that pit. He flew out of it, and was back in the Maldum base. Although he didn't know quite where he was, he knew it couldn't be far from the room where Myrus and Cobaark were. Danny's main focus now was to find the machine Myrus was hooked up to.

After searching for a few minutes, Danny found the machine. He looked around to make sure there were no Maldums in sight, particularly Cobaark or Myrus. When the coast was clear, Danny ran over to the machine.

Struggling for the longest time, Danny grabbed all the wires and pads and tried attaching them to himself. Looking behind him, Danny saw the giant vat of glowing green goo, which was the final third of his powers that had been stolen from him.

Danny ran over to the machine and went out of ghost form. The white ring appeared around the middle of his torso and split itself apart, changing his black jumpsuit back to his casual, teenage clothes.

Danny tampered with the wires for the longest time. He wasn't sure which wires of pads were supposed to go where on what part of him, but he was hoping it wouldn't matter. On top of that, he could only hope that he was actually going to be giving himself the final third of his powers.

After all, when he saw Myrus hooked up to the machine, Danny was only guessing that those were his powers in the vat and that by pulling the switch, Cobaark was really giving Myrus all of Danny's stolen powers.

Finally, Danny untangled all the wires and placed all the pads and anything he could onto himself. When he was finally finished, there were pads on his arms, head, on the sides of his neck and one under his shirt.

Danny didn't bother putting himself on the table, he just ran over to the switch with the wires attached to him. Taking a deep breath and hoping for the best, Danny pulled the switch. Instantly, the machine started roaring loudly. Danny looked at the computer above the vat of green goo and saw the words DRAIN INITIATED scrolled across it.

Danny stared with his eyes full of hope at the green vat behind the computer. Danny was suddenly distracted by sharp pains in every spot a wire was attached to him, but when Danny was able to ignore it, he looked at the vat of green goo and saw that it was draining. Danny deduced that it was similar to a flu shot: the pains he felt was the pressure of all the material from the vat that was flowing into him. Danny only hoped that it was his powers.

After what seemed like the longest time, the vat was empty and the sharp pains stopped. The machine shut down and the large computerized words on the screen disappeared. Danny ripped all the wires and cables off of him and threw them to the floor.

Danny didn't know what to think. For some reason, he suddenly felt like he was stronger. He made one test to see if he really got the remaining third of his powers back: he tried to do a small version of his ghostly wail, something he noticed he couldn't do before.

Danny took in a deep breath and let out a creepy "woooooooooooooooo" sound as he let the breath out. Small seismic waves started emitting from his mouth, and the waves smashed all the computer equipment in the room, along with anything they came in contact with.

"Awesome!" Danny yelled. "That's it! I got all of my powers back!"

Danny was ready to rejoice with the fact he got all of his powers back, but then he looked around and saw the huge mess he made with his ghostly wail.

"Uhhh…maybe I should leave," Danny said. He went ghost again, and then went intangible. He flew his way out of the Maldum base, and as soon as he was out, he stopped going intangible and started flying back to the Esceron Base.

Danny realized something while he was leaving the Maldum base that made him feel really great then. The Maldums' plan backfired. There were trying to enhance Danny's power with the fake antibiotics and then steal the enhanced powers to use it against the Escerons. However, Danny was able to get two-thirds of his power back from the Maldums, as well as get the other one-third back from the Escerons. Danny stole back all of his powers, but since they were enhanced, Danny was now about **175** **percent** as strong as he was before the Maldums made him sick in the first place. And now the Maldums wouldn't even get to use those powers…the powers they spent so long planning how to steal.

"It's over," Danny thought to himself as he was flying away. "The hard part of this whole thing is over. I got all my powers back, and I know what side I want to help. Now all I need to do it use my news powers to completely maul Myrus and Cobaark, and it'll finally be over."

Little did Danny know the hard part wasn't over. While getting his powers back wasn't an easy task, he still had to do defeat Myrus and Cobaark. The catch is, the Fenton Thermos was still broken, so he couldn't just capture them. Danny was going to have to find some other way to permanently stop the Maldums and their dark vision over the Ghost Zone and eventually the real world.

Of course, Danny didn't think about all this as he was flying away. He just wanted to tell Raschenda and Vundeter the news that he got all of his powers back. However, Danny knew the ordeal wasn't over when he heard Myrus scream something.

"Release the dragons!" Danny heard Myrus scream from inside the Maldum Base.


	24. Attack of the Three Dragons

Hello everyone. I'm glad you've taken the time to review this fanfic and tell me how awesome it is. I appreciate you guys telling me that you like this, because, as I've said before, it gives me motivation to continue. There also seemed to be a bit of confusion about the whole "175 percent stronger" thing, so let me try to make a bit of a comparison. Let's say you have one hundred dollars, and then you work enough to earn 75 more dollars. You'd have 175 percent as much money as you had when you started (I think). Bottom line, Danny is almost twice as strong as he was before he got sick, because the Maldums enhanced his powers and Danny stole his enhanced powers back.

---- ---- ---- ---- ------- ---- ---- ---- ------- ---- ---- ---- ------- ---- ---- ---- ------- ---- ---- ---- -

Danny turned around and saw the three dragons he just fought come flying out of the Maldum base. Gasping at the sight of this, he went intangible, therefore making him invisible. He started charging towards the three dragons as fast as he could. Normally, he could only go about 112 miles an hour, but now he could go just shy of 200.

As Danny charged at the dragons going at breakneck speed, he began realizing how strong he really was now.

"This is…awesome," Danny said as he realized how fast he was going. "Well, I'd hate to be the Maldums now, because they have to get past _me_ now if they want their shallow plan to succeed!"

Danny followed the dragons as quietly as he could to where they were going. He wanted to fight out if there was a secret lair or someplace like that where the dragons were being kept, or if the dragons were going someplace the Maldums wouldn't want him finding out about. Danny was trailing the three dragons as they were flying off, until a siren went off from the Maldum base.

"Warning!" the siren blared. "An enemy ghost is in the vicinity! Repeat, an enemy ghost is in the vicinity!"

Danny gulped and turned around. Outside the Maldum base, there were ghosts that dressed similarly to police officers coming out. They had dark lenses covering their eyes, along with having helmets and beating sticks that Danny thought were meant for more than just hitting people. The ghosts looked pretty nasty.

"There he is!" yelled one of the officers, pointing to Danny. Despite the fact Danny was intangible and not visible, the ghost soldiers still somehow saw him. It must have been the dark glasses they were wearing. "Get him!"

About six ghosts all started closing in on Danny. Danny knew that being invisible wasn't going to help him out, so he went back to his visible form and started staring at the ghost officers, coming at him from side to side. He was completely surrounded by them.

Feeling cocky about his newly enhanced powers, Danny almost welcomed an attack to see what he was now capable of.

"Six against one, huh?" Danny said, looking at the ghosts as they got ready to attack. "Well, we'll see about that…"

Saying this, Danny fired some energy out of his hand. The energy waves were now much thicker and Danny could tell that there was more power behind them simply from firing it. The energy wave hit one of the ghosts and sent him flying backwards with so much force that he crashed into the Maldum base and was knocked unconscious.

"Now _this_ is cool," Danny said. He looked at all the other ghosts and started consistently firing energy at them, sending them all flying backwards in the same manner. After the other five were blasted away with little effort, Danny turned around and looked at the Maldum base. There were now over sixty troops standing there.

Danny's heart sank, seeing how he couldn't blast each individual ghost this time. The large quantity of guards started coming closer to Danny, and Danny could only float backwards and try to keep himself out of trouble. Then, he suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, you want a piece of me!" Danny yelled, encouraging the massive amount of ghosts to attack him simultaneously.

As all the ghosts started charging at him, Danny opened his mouth and started inhaling as much breath as he could. As the ghosts were only a few yards of him, Danny blew out the breath at all the ghost and tried to make a wailing sound like a ghost would make.

As he tried to make that ghostly wail, seismic waves emitted from his mouth again, but with full power behind them, the waves had the power of an earthquake that would surpass 8.0 on the Richter scale. All sixty of the ghosts were sent flying backwards with so much force, that some of them even got knocked out of Danny's sight.

When the entire place was cleared, Danny once again went intangible and started flying after the dragons. Since he was going at almost two hundred miles an hour, it was quite easy to catch up with them. However, Danny soon realized the way the dragons were going: to the Esceron base!

"Oh, no.." Danny moaned, realizing the dragons were going to be attacking the base of his allies. "Raschenda! Vundeter! I've gotta warn them!"

Danny started accelerating as fast as he possibly could. He easily passed the dragons as they flew towards the base, and because of his intangibility, he wasn't able to be seen by the dragons. Danny saw the Esceron base in sight, and he quickly passed right through the walls to the base.

As soon as Danny was inside, he turned visible again and ran around, looking hard for Raschenda and Vundeter. He needed to warn them that dragons were approaching and that their base was going to be destroyed by them if they weren't fast enough. Danny knew for a fact he alone didn't have the strength to take down the dragons all three were together.

Danny had to run to the top of the base to find Raschenda and Vundeter. To Danny's surprise, he wasn't feeling as tired or worn out or out of breath as he thought he would be. Apparently, getting all his enhanced human powers also gave him some longer lasting durability when it came to physical tasks. Battling ghosts right now was going to be much easier than it was before. But, right now, Danny had to focus on the problem at hand: warning Raschenda and Vundeter about the dragons and trying to fight them off.

Danny finally found the two in a dark part of the top floor of the base. They seemed to be talking about what to do in the war and they both seemed surprised to see Danny was right there.

"Guys, there are three dragons coming over here now!" Danny warned. "They're going to attack unless you guys help me fend them off!"

"What are you talking about?" Raschenda said in her cool, seductive voice. "Do you mean the shape shifting dragons?"

"Yeah, I think so!" Danny said. "They're pink, blue and green and came from the Maldum base!"

"That's them, all right!" Vundeter said quickly. "And they're coming here?"

"Yeah," Danny said. "If all three of us fought, I'm sure we could take them out. By the way, I got all of my powers back now and I've decided to fight for you guys!"

"Splendid!" Raschenda yelled. "But we can talk about this later. For now, we need to worry about to take down those dragons coming this way."

"Here they come!" Vundeter said, looking out the window and seeing the dragons as they came approaching the base.

Danny, Raschenda and Vundeter all went intangible and floated through the walls of the Esceron base. The three dragons started roaring when they came out of the base.

"Let's teach these dragons a few manners!" Danny said.

Instantly, the three dragons and the three ghosts started charging at each other. Raschenda, Danny and Vundeter all attacked one at the same time, and would have been able to take it down with no trouble. Unfortunately, the other two dragons posed as a bit of a distraction and attacked the three ghosts as they tried to take down one of the dragons.

Vundeter was blasted away by one of the dragons as it hit him as he was hitting the pink one. He got thrown back and started falling, almost unconscious through the depths of the Ghost Zone. As he was falling helplessly, Danny swooped down and grabbed him and waited for Vundeter to regain consciousness. When Vundeter was able to think straight after a moment or two, he gave Danny a quick nod and went back into battle.

Vundeter and Raschenda were now fighting all three of the dragons while Danny was floating a few yards below them. He took careful aim and fired his ectoplasmic energy at the pink dragon. The dragon got knocked backwards in pain, giving Raschenda and Vundeter an extra moment to attack it.

The two started viciously attacking the pink dragon while the green and blue ones approached Raschenda and Vundeter from behind and got ready to tear them to shreds with their claws.

Danny, seeing the two dragons ready to attack his new allies, had to take action, and fast. He fired two consecutive shots of energy at both of the dragons, enough to send both of them flying backwards.

Raschenda and Vundeter knew Danny just saved them for a moment, but they were two busy trying to beat the pink dragon to say anything.

Danny started charging upwards and gave the pink dragon a hard punch to the face as soon as he was eye level with it. The pink dragon moaned in pain and it barley seemed to have any energy left in it. After being beaten (literally) almost to death by Raschenda and Vundeter and getting a few blasts from Danny and then a punch to the face, the pink dragon could barely stay conscious any longer. Raschenda, seeing that the dragon wasn't going to last much longer, put out her hand in front of its face.

"Enough of this!" Raschenda said. She fired some of her own ectoplasmic energy out her hand and into the dragon's throat. The energy was blasted down the dragon's throat and roasted its inner skeleton. The dragon screeched in pain, and then turned into a heap of ashes from the blast.

The other two dragons, now fearing they'd be overpowered, started fleeing for their life. They flew out of sight, and left Raschenda smiling at herself for killing the pink dragon. Danny and Vundeter flew up to her.

"I don't think he's going to have the guts to mess with you again," Danny said. "That was awesome! I didn't know you could kill a dragon like that."

"A dragon is nothing more than a human," Raschenda explained. "Now that there are only two left, we had better talking about what to do next. After all, killing one dragon is only a victory for the time being."


	25. The Beginning of the End

Danny, Raschenda and Vundeter all watched as the charred remains of the pink dragon slowly disappeared into the infinite abyss that was the Ghost Zone. Then they looked up and saw the green and blue dragons flying away, not wanting to suffer the same fate their pink comrade did.

After a long silence, Danny abruptly yelled, "Well, shouldn't we follow them?"

"Not yet," Raschenda coolly replied. "When Myrus and Cobaark realize only two dragons are returning, they shall soon see our great power and realize the threat that we pose to them. That could hopefully give us an advantage if they fear us."

"Yeah, that'd probably be pretty good," Danny concurred. "Well, what are we going to do? Are we going to go after those other two dragons?"

"For all we care about, those dragons can go to some other dimension and work at a fast food restaurant," Vundeter said. "It's really those Maldums that we worry about. They're the ones we should be focusing all our attention towards to."

"I guess you're right," Danny said. "But I also wouldn't mind beating up those dragons if I get the chance to."

"Never mind about that," Raschenda said. "Now listen, it's great that we have you to help us, but we cannot take any risks. Danny, I'm going to have to ask that you lend us your powers."

"What!" Danny yelled.

"I'm sure you understand," Raschenda said in her calm tone. "Even though you say you are on our side, we cannot take any unnecessary risks. For all we know, this could just be a plot by the Maldums to make us drop our guards. We need your power to insure victory in this war. If you were truly on our side, you would understand and agree."

"Look," Danny yelled. "I _am_ on your side, but I just risked life and limb trying to get all of my powers back. I'm not just going to give them up like that!"

"Danny, don't be stubborn with Raschenda!" Vundeter snapped. "If you don't want to cooperate and give us your powers temporarily to insure victory in this war, then I can just make you give them to us if that's what you want."

"No way!" Danny insisted. "I'm going to help you win this war, but if any of my powers are going to be used, they're going to be used by _me!_ And if you don't believe me, then I could just act as a rogue and blow all four of you away with my ghost wail!"

Raschenda and Vundeter evidently realized that Danny was serious about not wanting to give away his powers and knew just how deadly he could be with his ghost wail if he lost his temper.

"Very well," Raschenda said. "In that instance, you can keep those powers if you wish. However, we need to know you're going to stay with us, no matter what. Agreed?"

"Unless you guys have lied to me even worse than the Maldums have, agreed."

Raschenda had an evil looking smile on her face and led Danny back to the Esceron base with Vundeter. Once they got there, they all started formulating a plan on the best way to strike the Maldum base. They were hoping that with Danny's power, they could force the Maldums to surrender and be able to lock both Myrus and Cobaark up so they would no longer pose a threat.

"Well then, shall we get started?" Raschenda said as Danny and Vundeter both followed her into a room in the Esceron base. There was a large table with two chairs sitting on opposite ends of the table. Raschenda and Vundeter sat down while Danny stood up.

"Lady Raschenda, what should I do when we attack the Maldum base?" Vundeter asked, wanting to be as helpful as possible.

"Well, let us take a look at the base, shall we?" Raschenda said. She pushed a button on the underside of the table and instantly a hologram of the Maldum base appeared in the center of the table. (it looked pretty similar to what a hologram would look like in a _Star Wars_ movie)

"_Wow, that's cool,_" Danny thought to himself as he saw the hologram pop up on the table.

"The entrance to their base is right about here," Raschenda said, pointing to where the door was pictured on the hologram. "And Myrus will most likely be expecting an attack from us, so there will probably be guards all over the place."

"How are we going to get past them all?" Vundeter asked.

Danny was staring at the hologram with his full attention. His eyes had a serious look to them, and his arms were crossed. He was ready to do anything, feeling much more powerful and insured that he would be all right with his enhanced powers.

"Should Danny try to go in and attack from the front while we sneak in from the back?" Vundeter suggested. "Danny can be a distraction but be able to take out all the guards that get sent out to attack him. None of the guards would expect an entrance from the back, giving us a clear way into the base and a good shot at Myrus and Cobaark."

"I think that if anyone should go in from the back, it should be Danny," Raschenda said to Vundeter. "If you're talking about being a distraction, we'd better be the ones to do the distracting. Danny has the power that can crumple the Maldum base to dust. What do you say to that, Danny?"

"Go in from the back and let you guys go to the front?" Danny asked, making sure he understood everything. "Won't that be a bit dangerous for you guys? The Maldums are probably going to have hundreds of ghosts guarding the front, you can't possibly take them all!"

"Don't worry," Raschenda said. "What's important is that you fly in through the back and infiltrate the Maldum base. Make sure you do as much damage to it as possible once you get in. Do we all agree?"

"I'm cool with it," Danny said.

"If that is what you desire, Lady Raschenda," Vundeter subserviently responded.

"Very well. We should attack now. The Maldums won't be expecting an attack this soon."

The three ghosts flew out of the Esceron Base and flew towards the Maldum base. They were all hoping that if Danny was able to demolish the Maldum base and force the surrender of Myrus and Cobaark, then the entire thing would be over. They were all hoping that this would be the final confrontation between the Escerons and the Maldums.

When all three ghosts finally arrived, Danny went intangible and flew around to the back of the base. Of course, Danny set off a ghost alarm when he went in, but when all the Maldums saw Raschenda and Vundeter, they assumed they were the ones who set off the alarm, not Danny.

Myrus could be heard screaming, _"Enemies! The Escerons are attacking us! All ghosts to the front of the base to attack!"_

As Myrus screamed this, literally hundreds of ghosts started pouring out from the base and flew over to Raschenda and Vundeter. All of the ghosts immediately got ready to attack as they surrounded Raschenda and Vundeter. The two were completely surrounded; there was no way they could escape without having to fight.

"Lady Raschenda, you must have a lot of confidence in Danny," Vundeter mumbled to Raschenda as all the ghosts started closing in on them.

"Yes, I do," Raschenda said. "I've been saying this since before he even got involved in this entire ordeal: he's our only hope at winning this war. We must rely on him and make sure he completely ruins the Maldum Base."

"Yes, Lady Raschenda," Vundeter responded.

The two cornered Escerons looked around. The hundreds of Maldum ghosts surrounding them put out their hands and were ready to start charging an energy blast at Raschenda and Vundeter. Raschenda and Vundeter put up their guards, hoping to be able to withstand the heavy blasts from the enemy ghosts.

_Danny,_ Raschenda thought to herself as all the Maldum troops were ready to blast her and Vundeter, _Good luck._

Danny flew in through the back of the Maldum base as they had planned. After becoming tangible again after going through the wall, he quietly went through the dark, winding Maldum base.

"Well, it looks like Raschenda and Vundeter got all the guards out of the base," Danny quietly said to himself as he went through the eerie halls. "I hope those guys are okay."

Saying this, he continued his search through the Maldum base for Myrus and Cobaark.


	26. Final Fight: Part One

Danny quietly went through the Maldum base, not knowing what to expect. He was looking for Myrus or Cobaark, hoping that if he found them, he'd be able to overpower them with his enhanced strength. He hoped this would force their surrender.

_Gee, I hope Raschenda and Vundeter_ _are okay,_ Danny thought to himself as he went through the base. _Those guys were surrounded. How are they going to escape? Are they really this dependent on me?_

Danny didn't have time to answer his own question. He looked into a room and saw Cobaark and Myrus standing there, staring at a giant machine. The machine looked similar to the machine Danny had been strapped down to when his powers got extracted, except this one wasn't horizontal. This machine was also hooked up to the computer Cobaark was researching the Endoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing ability on.

Danny was trying to quietly walk in and blast both of them by surprise, but it didn't work. Cobaark turned around and saw Danny walking in.

"Hey!" Cobaark snapped. "Lord Myrus! There's an intruder here!'

Myrus turned around and saw Danny. His dark, brooding face had an evil smile appear on it. "Well, well, well, Danny, I see we meet again."

"Yeah. And coincidentally, this is going to be the _last_ time we meet!" Danny yelled. "My powers are more greatly enhanced than either of yours. Surrender now and stop or the war, or be ready to taste some ghost plasma!"

Danny was hoping to intimidate Myrus and Cobaark. It seemed to work on Cobaark, but Myrus remained calm. "Cobaark, I told you to finish this traitor, did I not!" Myrus snapped. "It's your fault he's still alive. Kill him now!"

"Er…right, my lord," Cobaark stammered. "As you wish."

Saying this, Danny balled both of his fists up and began a stare-off with Cobaark. The two stared at each other coldly, and without warning, Cobaark fired the first blast.

A stream of ghostly energy fired out of Cobaark's hand, and Danny was hit right in the chest with it. He got sent flying back, but it didn't take him long at all to recover. He countered with a blast of his own, and the shock sent Cobaark flying backwards almost twice as hard.

Cobaark struggled to get up, but Danny flew over and grabbed him by the front of his armor and started punching Cobaark as hard in the face as he could.

It wasn't until Danny nailed Cobaark in the head with his fist about ten times before Danny realized, _something is not right here. Something is seriously not right about the way this fight is going…_

Ignoring these thoughts, Danny continued to pummel Cobaark. It looked like Danny would win until Cobaark had a surprise surge of strength and grabbed Danny by the throat. In less time than Danny could react, Cobaark slammed Danny into the ground like the way a football player throws the ball on the ground after making a touchdown.

Danny struggled to get up, but Cobaark just picked him up again and threw him at a wall head-on. Just as he was about to hit it, Danny was able to completely halt his momentum and got back in control of himself. He started charging at Cobaark and prepared to fire another blast from his hands.

When Danny finished charging it up, he fired it at Cobaark and hit him right in the head. Cobaark fell on the ground in pain. Danny went over to him and prepared to fire another blast until another thought came to him.

_I'm not crazy, there is SERIOUSLY something wrong about this fight. I KNOW there is. But what is it?..._

Trying his best to take advantage of Cobaark's weakened state, Danny ignored the thoughts the best he could. He continued to mercilessly pound Cobaark, as if he was trying to grind Cobaark to a pulp.

After the longest time, Cobaark showed one final form of resistance. He fired a blast at Danny's head, causing Danny to be sent flying backwards. He fell on the ground with his head feeling dizzy after the blast.

Cobaark didn't waste any time. He ran over to Danny and picked him up by the throat. Doing this, he started firing punches and blows to Danny's head. Danny took a few blows until he finally got the sense to go intangible.

After going intangible and being able to go through Cobaark, Danny escaped from Cobaark and got out of his grasp. When Danny turned visible again, he fired a blast of energy so quickly that Cobaark didn't have time to mentally prepare. The pure shock of the blast sent Cobaark flying against a wall. He slowly sunk down to the bottom of the floor and only a few moans were heard from him.

Danny went over to Cobaark as he lay on the floor, helpless. Danny had beaten him; now, if only his dad hadn't inadvertently broken the Fenton Thermos. If he did, he would be able to suck Cobaark into it and not have to worry about him anymore. Then, Danny realized what that feeling was about when he was fighting Cobaark.

_Myrus, _Danny thought to himself as he stared at Cobaark lying in a heap on the floor. _Myrus was standing right there during that fight! How come he wasn't helping Cobaark to take me down?_

Danny turned towards Myrus. While Danny and Cobaark were fighting, Myrus had hooked up some wires to himself that came from the computer. Myrus was just staring as Cobaark lay absolutely defensless. In fact, Myrus was grinning. After Danny was breathing heavily from the fight, he saw the words DOWNLOAD COMPLETE appear on the screen.

"Ah, excellent," Myrus said. He ripped off all the wires and then started laughing. (it was a stereotypical evil laugh that villains make when their plan succeeds) He walked over to Cobaark and stood right in front of him.

"_M…My lord…"_ Cobaark managed to choke out. He was barely unconscious after the whooping Danny just gave him. _"I…I'm so sorry. I couldn't finish the Ghost Boy…I'm so sorry…"_

"Sorry for what!" Myrus snapped, walking over to Cobaark. "Didn't you notice how I wasn't helping you take the Ghost Boy down while you were fighting him?"

"_My…my lord, what were you doing? Why didn't you help me? Together…we could have…defeated him…"_ Cobaark managed to choke out.

"What, you actually thought I _expected _you to beat him!" Myrus yelled. "Please! You couldn't beat Danny when he only had a fraction of his power. You think I'd expect you to beat Danny when his powers were more dangerous than they were before?"

Danny's eyes opened wide in fear as Myrus revealed this. Did Myrus actually _want_ Cobaark to lose? Why didn't Myrus help?

"While you were busy getting beat by this adolescent," Myrus explained. "I was hooking myself up to the computer that had the Endoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing ability on it…the one _you_ were gracious enough to research for me!"

Cobaark gasped, but it sounded more like a choke. Myrus now had an Endoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing ability (the same one Cobaark had been researching) and could now use it whenever he wanted.

Myrus began slowly advancing towards Cobaark. When he was right in front of Cobaark's practically unconscious body, he opened up his hand and aimed it at Cobaark's head, but kept his hand a few inches away.

"You have truly been a great assistant, Cobaark," Myrus said with an evil smile. "But, now it is time to say good-bye."

"…_my lord…"_

"Good-bye, Cobaark," Myrus said with no emotion. A bright white light started to form in Myrus' hand, and after a few seconds, a blinding green beam of energy erupted from it. It was the Endoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing beam, and it hit Cobaark square in the head.

Danny gasped breathlessly in shock. He saw Cobaark's body turn bright green, and in less than a second, his body clearly was no longer one solid piece, but now literally millions of small particles. Shortly after this happened, the small particles started to break apart from each other and start to disappear.

Danny watched as all the small green particles that once made up Cobaark's ghostly body floated throughout the entire room. As they drifted further and further away, they all started disappearing into thin air.

Danny was shocked beyond words. Cobaark's body was completely gone when the particles disappeared-something that left an evil grin on Myrus' face.

"Di…did you just destroy a ghost?" Danny asked Myrus very timidly.

The grin stayed on Myrus' face as he slowly started to turn around. "I told you it could dissolve _anything_, didn't I?" Myrus said. Basically, Myrus was saying "yes", he did kill a ghost with that Endoplasmic Molecular Vaporizer ray.

Danny still stared in shock. In no time, Myrus raised his hand horizontally and pointed it at Danny's face.

"Your turn," Myrus said, starting to from another Endoplasmic Vaporizing ray in his hand.


	27. Another Blow

Danny watched nervously. Myrus's evil glare never seemed so nasty and aggressive. Of course, that was probably because Danny was backed into a corner while Myrus was charging up a blast of energy that could turn every bit of Danny into an individual atom, literally vaporizing him.

Danny knew he didn't have much time left. The energy of Myrus's EMV blast would completely destroy him, no matter how strong Danny was now.

"_Well then,"_ Danny thought to himself as Myrus's blast came closer and closer to being charged and ready to fire, _"this is just great. I need to do something, because if I don't do something, I'm going to DIE!"_

Just as Myrus had his blast completely charged, Danny dove out of the way. The blast hit the wall that was behind Danny, and in less than one second, a huge chunk of the wall completely disappeared. Danny quickly looked at the wall that had just been partly dissolved, and then turned himself back to Myrus.

"Nice job, Myrus!" Danny said, deciding that if he was going to die, he was going to die acting tough. "You missed me! Now it's my turn!"

In less time than a person would be able to react, Danny fired his own blast of energy at Myrus, but Myrus was quick in dodging it. In no time, the large, dark room they were in had turned into a standoff between the two. For a while, the two did nothing except exchange blasts back and forth and dodge their opponent.

"Okay, this is getting pretty repetitive," Danny moaned. "If you're not gonna pose a challenge, then I'm out of here."

Danny went intangible and went through the ceiling and to his escape.

"If I wasn't so worried about staying alive, maybe I would've done that sooner," Danny pondered to himself as he flew away. "Well, that's over. Better go check on Raschenda and Vundeter to see how _they're_ doing."

Danny flew out to the entrance of the Maldum base. He saw Vundeter and Raschenda doing their best to fend off the Maldum Grunts, but they looked like they couldn't keep up fighting much longer.

"Those guys are toast if I don't do something!" Danny exclaimed. Saying this, he did a nosedive right into the action faster than anyone could blink. He popped up in front of Raschenda and Vundeter while the Maldum troops were busy recovering from the shock of seeing Danny pop up so soon. "This is going to sound _really_ awkward, but if you guys want to stay alive, I think you should grab onto me and keep a strong grip."

Confused over what Danny was saying, Raschenda and Vundeter both grabbed a hold of one of Danny's arms. They didn't know what the point to it was, but they thought it would be better than letting themselves get slaughtered by the ruthless Maldums.

"Hang on tight!" Danny said when both Raschenda and Vundeter had a solid grip. He took in a deep breath and started screaming out his ghostly wail. The seismic waves sent the rows of Maldum troops flying backwards. After turning around and blowing away all the Maldums that didn't fly off from fear, he told Raschenda and Vundeter to let go. After they both did, all three of them let loose a huge sigh of relief.

"I am impressed, Ghost Boy," Raschenda said. "If it weren't for you, we might never have made it out of that situation. There was no way we could have fought off _all_ of those."

"Don't mention it," Danny said in a humble tone. "We got bigger problems to worry about now."

"Hey, where are Myrus and Cobaark?" Vundeter demanded loudly. "Are they still in the base?"

"Well, Myrus is," Danny replied glumly. "Cobaark, on the other hand…"

Danny started telling the two Esceron leaders about how Myrus had invented an Endoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing ray and that it could dissolve anything and everything that it hit, even a ghost. Danny didn't stop, even when he saw the clear looks of terror and despair on Raschenda and Vundeter's face when he told them about this. They both looked like a huge problem had just been put on them, and one had. Now, Raschenda and Vundeter had to fight Myrus knowing he had the ability to literally kill them. All three of them were nervous about what to do; none of them knew what they should do next.

"Well, if Myrus has a weapon that can take out our entire army without breaking a sweat, then we need to be extra careful. Our only hope of defeating Myrus is if we can force his surrender and find some way to get rid of that power of his," Raschenda put in. "Of course, we don't even know how he got those powers in the first place."

"Uh, I do," Danny weakly said. Both Raschenda and Vundeter's eyes slowly began to focus on Danny. "Myrus had Cobaark research that weapon and figure out how to equip it. Once he was successful in developing that skill, he helped download it into Myrus. After doing that, Myrus killed him."

"Download it?" Raschenda said. "What do you mean?"

"Apparently, the technique is still in the computer Cobaark was using for research. Myrus had to hook some wires up to himself that came from the computer in order to get the power from it. At least, I _think_ that's why he did it," Danny said.

After thinking for a little while longer, Raschenda said, "Very well. I say we go back to our base and strategize there. Do either of you have any objections?"

"No," Danny and Vundeter said in unison.

"Very well," Raschenda said. She led the other two back towards the Esceron base. However, on the way back they had an unpleasant surprise.

"Myrus!" Danny yelled when they were about half way back to the Esceron base. Myrus had seemingly just popped out of nowhere, and he was going in the direction the three Escerons just came.

"Well, I see all three of you are here," Myrus said. "You realize I could dispose of all three of you quite easily, don't you? One simple blast from my hand will turn every bit of ectoplasmic energy in you into a…"

"You don't have to explain it," Danny interjected. "I saw the whole thing! And now that _we_ have_ you_ outnumbered, you're going to pay for trying to kill me!"

"You think you can intimidate me?" Myrus said with a high tone of surprise in his voice. "By all means, try!"

Saying this, Danny, Raschenda and Vundeter all started forming a powerful blast of energy in each of their hands. Myrus seemed a little surprised by this and even stepped back a little.

"You can vaporize any one of us," Vundeter boldly challenged. "But if you even _think_ of firing that blast of whatever-you-call-it, then you're going to get a unison blow of energy to your head!"

Myrus, seeing that he didn't have the best odds with three powerful ghosts against him, began to step backwards a little. He had a look of fear on his face, but he quickly reverted it back to his creepy, normal smile.

"Heh!" he sneered. "You think numbers mean victory? Go ahead! I dare you to attack me again! Next time, I'll be ready!"

Saying this, Myrus flew away, going over a hundred miles an hour, back to the Maldum base. Danny quickly jolted into motion to follow him, but Raschenda grabbed the back of just jumpsuit as he was flying off.

"Let him go," Raschenda said. "He welcomed another attack, so we will give him another attack later! For now, let's go to our base to strategize that attack when the time comes."

Danny and Vundeter followed Raschenda as she led them back to the Esceron base. Plans on how to attack Myrus kept coming to all three of them, and yet everyone stayed quiet. The flight back to the base seemed like a long one, but all three were determined to beat Myrus once and for all.

When they finally reached the base, they all gasped in disbelief. The worst possible thing happened to them at the worst possible time.

"Our base!" Raschenda yelled, and for the first time ever, Danny thought she sounded a little panicked and vulnerable.

The Esceron base had been completely destroyed. Pillars inside of it were knocked down, several parts that were left looked very charred; all in all, the entire place looked like it had been completely destroyed, like a bomb hit it.

"Myrus had to have done this!" Vundeter angrily yelled. "That's why we saw him on the way back! He had just come to our base and he completely annihilated it! Now we _have_ to destroy him for doing this! We have to have our revenge for him doing this!"

Raschenda and Vundeter quickly looked at Danny and saw he had a petrified look on his face, mixed with a lot of horror and fear.

"Danny, what's the matter?" Raschenda said, back to talking in her calm, cool and collected way.

"It looks like Myrus didn't do it alone," Danny said, pointing to the pile of rubble that was once the Esceron base.


	28. Second One Down

Danny, Raschenda and Vundeter were left staring in fear as they saw their base crumpling in the Ghost Zone.

"Did the soldiers make it out okay?" Vundeter asked with a high amount of hope in his voice.

"There's no telling," Raschenda responded, still with her cool tone, acting as if a single thing wasn't wrong. "We can only hope for the best and get revenge on Myrus for destroying our base."

"Myrus wasn't the only one who destroyed it, if he even played a role in it at all," Danny said, giving Raschenda a terrified look.

"How do you know someone or something other than Myrus destroyed our base?" Raschenda asked with a touch of interest in her voice.

"Because it's right behind you. MOVE!" Danny yelled.

Raschenda gasped and abruptly turned around. The blue and green dragons that Danny had fought a little while before rose from the pile of rubble and roared so loud that all three Escerons had to cover their ears.

"What are those things!" Vundeter yelled.

"Shape-shifting dragons!" Danny yelled. "Myrus was using them when he was stealing my powers! Come on, let's finish these guys off!"

The battle between the three Escerons and the two dragons commenced. Danny started by firing his enhanced blast of energy at one of the dragons and clearly sending it flying back in a lot of pain.

Raschenda and Vundeter flew over to the dragon (it was the green one) that Danny just blasted. They prepared to fire some of their own ectoplasmic energy in unison at the dragon, but just as they were ready to fire, the blue dragon charged at both of them and sent them flying backwards.

Danny quickly ran up to the blue dragon while it was watching in glee at seeing Raschenda and Vundeter flying backwards in the Ghost Zone. When Danny was right behind it, Danny grabbed its tail and got ready to swing it around a couple times and then launch it.

_Gee, I feel like I'm playing Super Mario 64 doing this_, Danny thought as he started swinging the dragon by the tail. Having enhanced physical strength was really starting to become an advantage that Danny would take kindly to getting used to. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw that the green dragon was charging right at him. Danny let the green dragon stop swinging when it was right in front of him.

As the green dragon went flying out of Danny's hands, the blue dragon continued to charge. In no time, the dragons collided and smashed into each other very painfully when Danny let the green dragon go.

The two dragons roared in pain but were distracted enough from it that it bought Danny, Raschenda and Vundeter some time to attack.

When Raschenda and Vundeter floated back over to Danny after they regained control of themselves, all three of them started firing blasts of energy at the dragons as fast and has as hard as they could. The dragons stammered in pain until the blue dragon had a burst of strength and flew up high into the air. When he was high enough up, he opened his mouth and a stream of multi-thousand degrees fire came pouring out of the dragons mouth, right at Danny and the two Escerons.

All three of them gasped and dodged the blast of fire just in time. Part of the flame brushed against Danny's arm and went right through the black jumpsuit, leaving a small bare spot on the arm.

"Great work," Danny said angrily. "I'll bet this jumpsuit was expensive!"

Saying this, Danny fired some of his energy from his hand and aimed it right at the dragon's eye. It worked and hit the blue dragon's left eye and permanently destroyed it.

As the dragon howled in pain, Danny flew up to it boldly grabbed one of the dragon's sharp fangs in the front jaw. In less time than Raschenda or Vundeter could either see him do it, Danny pulled the tooth out of the dragon's mouth.

The dragon howled in more pain, but was hurting too much to do anything about it. Danny watched as the grotesque side of dragon blood came out of the dragon's mouth, but quickly was able to get back to his trail of though.

With one swift motion, Danny thrust the dragon fang into the blue dragon's throat. The dragon screeched in pain, but this time, in a much hoarse tone due to its voice box being pierced by its own fang.

The dragon's windpipe was also punctured. The dragon suddenly couldn't breathe from it, and it was only a few seconds before the dragon suffocated. It slowly started floating in the infinite abyss of the Ghost Zone, dead.

The green dragon was ready to attack Danny, Raschenda and Vundeter in order to avenge the blue dragon, but seeing that he was outnumbered three to one, it flew off towards the Maldum base. None of three ghosts did anything to try to follow it.

"Danny?..." Vundeter asked with obvious disbelief in his voice. "What was…how did…how could you…"

"I got a 42 on my _Romeo and Juliet quiz_, I've had to fight a bunch of super powerful ghosts and dragons, I had to go through getting all my powers back and I was lied to about having my powers stolen. It's been a bit of a rough week and I had to take it out somehow," Danny replied in a neutral way.

Raschenda and Vundeter were both clearly impressed with Danny's temporary violent mood and that it helped them kill one of the Maldums' shape-shifting dragons, but now they had a huge problem.

"Well, it's good that we don't have to worry about that thing anymore," Raschenda said. "But what about our base? We have nowhere to plan and to strategize anymore. And we don't even know if our troops made it out okay. In addition to that, it seems that the Maldums have a way of keeping us out of their base."

"What?" Danny said. The last part was new to him. "How'd you find out about that? What is it?"

"Danny, do you remember a while back when we were holding you hostage and a spy came back and said that he brought back some useful information?" Vundeter said, trying to refresh Danny's memory.

"Yeah."

"They brought back word that not only were the Maldums up to something, but that they also had a ghost shield running. It wasn't operational all the times we went in because an attack was unsuspected, but now that we've shown how much of a threat we can be, Myrus is putting it up all the time. It's impenetrable to all ghosts."

"Ghosts, huh?" Danny said, putting his finger on his chin and starting to grin. It was only a moment after hearing Myrus put a ghost shield up, and already Danny was coming up with a way to undo his plot.

"Well, shall we strategize how we are going to attack that base?" Vundeter asked. "Since _our_ base is gone, I guess we're going to have to plan it right here."

Just as the three were about to talk about their plans, a voice was called in the distance.

"Lady Raschenda! Lord Vundeter!"

The three turned around and saw what looked like an entire fleet of ghosts were standing there. Raschenda and Vundeter looked especially surprised to see them. They were Esceron grunts.

"You guys made it out of the base okay!" Vundeter yelled happily towards them.

"Yes," said one of the grunts. "We saw the dragons coming and didn't think we could put up a fight against them, so I ordered all of the other soldiers to evacuate until the coast was clear. Did you guys fight off the dragons?"

"Yeah, all three of us fought off…" Vundeter started, but he was cut off.

"Young Danny here was the one who fought off the dragons," Raschenda said, stealing Vundeter's moment of glory. "He killed one dragon and was able to scare the other dragon away by doing so. He is going to be a most valuable asset when we attack the Maldum base for the final time."

"When will that be?" the grunt asked.

"As soon as we finish planning," Raschenda said. "And right now, we're planning that very attack. We've gotta finish off those Maldums once and for all."

So, that's exactly what they did. Danny, Raschenda, Vundeter and all the nameless Esceron soldiers started thinking about how they could attack the Maldum base. They were all hoping that this would truly be the last fight, and none were wishing that as much as Danny was.


	29. Final Fight: Part Two

They were all flying through the Ghost Zone like birds flying in their v-shape formation when migrating or flying together. All the Esceron grunts were flying in the back, Raschenda and Vundeter were flying close to the front, and the one at the very tip of the flying pattern was Danny. They were heading to the Maldum base, hoping to take down Myrus once and for all.

They flew for what seemed like the longest time, and all of them thought about the battle that lay ahead. Would Myrus finally go down after this fight? Would the Escerons finally be able to force his surrender? Would his insane vision of a "perfect ghost zone" be undone forever?

Finally, Danny saw the Maldum base only a few yards ahead. They all stopped in their tracks after seeing a large, green, transparent circle formed around the Maldum base.

"Myrus!" Raschenda yelled. "He _does_ have the ghost shield up! We can't get in if he has that up. We're going to have to find some way to knock the shield down."

Saying this, Raschenda and Vundeter turned around and stared at all their troops behind them. "Any of you men have any idea on how we can knock that shield down?" Raschenda asked.

After no one said anything for a while, Vundeter broke the silence and said "Come on! That shield _has_ to have a weak spot somewhere! You agree with me, don't you Danny?"

Vundeter turned around and saw Danny on the other side of the shield. He was floating in mid air with his arms crossed and a cocky smile on his face. "You know, I always found it easier to go _through_ it," he called out to them. "Not waiting for it to disappear and then pass it."

"We can have more of your snide, teenager remarks later," Vundeter said. "But for now, let's just go in and show Myrus a thing or two."

Vundeter and Raschenda flew towards the shield to go through it, but upon making contact with it, they smacked into it as if they had just walked into a wall. They couldn't get in.

"What? Why aren't we able to penetrate?" Raschenda asked with an obvious tone of annoyance.

"Maybe it's because this shield only works on ghosts," Danny said. "And I'm a _half_ ghost. That's the only reason I can think of."

"It doesn't matter," Raschenda yelled. "Just go in there and find a way to deactivate the shield so we can get in. Myrus won't be expecting such a huge attack."

Danny nodded his head quickly, and then bolted inside the base.

The Maldum base seemed as dark and as creepy as ever. The halls were still deserted and dark, with a sound echoing throughout the eerie silence. It was like going through a haunted house, except this time, it was with _real_ ghosts. Danny was ready to take anything that came his way…he hoped.

Out of nowhere, three Maldum soldiers popped out of one of the rooms. They immediately began attacking Danny.

"Well, three's the charm," Danny said as the three grunts came at him. Danny simply grabbed one and put it right in front of his face, and then blasted it with his ectoplasmic energy.

With one down already, Danny simply grabbed the other two and smashed their heads into each other.

"Gee, I thought Myrus would do a better job training his troops than this," Danny remarked. After fighting the two, he turned around and saw over twenty troops right behind him.

"This could be a problem," Danny said. He didn't waste any time to start firing his ectoplasmic energy at the ghosts. In fact, due to his enhanced power, it didn't too many blasts at all to knock any of them down.

By the time Danny had finished off all but one of them without even taking a single hit, he was ready to just stop and go find Myrus. However, he had no where to look. He ran over to the only Maldum troop he didn't blast and grabbed the front of its uniform.

"Okay," Danny said. "We can do this _my_ way, or we can do this the _hard_ way. Your choice. Now tell me: where is Myrus!"

The Maldum grunt, now terrified of Danny and his enhanced power, didn't waste any time. "He's in the control room…on the top floor," the troop managed to squeak.

"Thanks," Danny said. He fired a weak blast of ectoplasmic energy into the troop's face, but just enough to knock him out cold. "Basically, both ways were a lose-lose situation for you," Danny said to the troop he just finished. He began flying to the top of the base and into the control room there.

There he was: Myrus. Myrus was watching everything on the giant screen above all the controls. (the same one he was watching Danny through during Chapter 1) He turned around and saw Danny just as he walked in.

"Well, well, well," Myrus said. "I guess you're on the Escerons' side after all. What a pity. You would have made a great ally. But, in the end, you decided to go with the pen-pushers."

"I have no idea what that means," Danny said. "All I care right now is about showing you a thing or two in respect!"

"Well," Myrus said, balling a blast of energy in his fist, "you seem to have forgotten I possess a skill that you don't. And I could kill you quite easily with it. But, if you're offering your life, I'll gladly take it."

"We'll see about that!" Danny yelled.

Myrus started floating in the air and fired several blasts at Danny at an exrtremely rapid rate. If Danny blinked, he'd miss Myrus firing the blast. Dodging the blasts alone would take inhuman reflexes.

When Myrus wasn't expecting it, Danny retaliated with a blast of ectoplasmic energy of his own. Unfortunately, Myrus dodged it and then immediately fired some at Danny. Danny got knocked back and slammed into the wall from the blast, but due to his enhanced strength, he could afford to take a hit or two that he couldn't before.

Danny regained focus just as he saw Myrus ready to fire another blast at him. Danny launched himself into the air just in time for Myrus to miss him and put a huge hole in the wall with that blast of energy. As soon as he could, Danny fired some ectoplasmic energy at Myrus and hit him dead on.

Myrus was sent flying backwards, and Danny started firing repeating blasts of energy at Myrus while he was down. However, after only two or three extra shots, Myrus put his arms out and a ghost shield blocked all the blows. He flew into the air faster than a rocket and started firing at Danny once again.

Danny had to roll out of the way to evade Myrus's blasts. It was barely thirty seconds into the fight and already Danny was exhausted. _"Gee, I thought only major bosses in action RPG's were this fast and strong,"_ Danny thought to himself as he kept missing all of Myrus's blasts just by a hair.

Danny finally had enough and fired some of his own energy at Myrus again, but the two blasts collided when they were fired. It created a small green explosion and distracted Myrus for only a second.

As soon as he recovered, he fired some energy and knocked Danny to the back of the wall. Danny groaned in pain. He couldn't take much more fighting before he seriously hurt himself.

When he was struggling to get up, Myrus blasted him again. Danny now was aching in just about every spot, his black jumpsuit was getting torn up and he looked like he had just run a marathon without practicing at all for it.

Myrus walked over to Danny and picked him up by the front of the jumpsuit. He formed more energy in his hand, but not just any energy. It was the Ectoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing Energy: the energy that could dissolve _anything, _including people and ghosts.

"See what happens when you don't make the right choices?" Myrus said with an evil grin on his face. "You get in situations, and before long, you find yourself in too big of a hole to climb out of. Surely they taught you this in school?"

"I wouldn't know, I don't pay attention," Danny retorted.

Myrus sneered, and then pointed the ready ball of energy at Danny. "Enjoy your last few moments of being solid," Myrus threatened.

Danny was sweating more nervous than he ever did before, and his heart was pumping faster. _"Tell me this isn't how it ends",_ Danny thought to himself. "_Turning into a million tiny pieces at the hands of a ghost?"_

As Danny nervously glanced around, he saw a button on the control panel Myrus was standing at when he walked in. It was a giant red panel that had a red light on, and it read SHIELD ACTIVATED.

Danny used the last ounce of strength he had to gradually lift his arm up so Myrus wouldn't notice. He opened up his hand and pointed it at the panel.

"Well," Danny managed to squeak. "If I wasn't able to beat you, Raschenda and Vundeter will!"

Danny fired a blast of energy from his hand at the panel. Luckily for Danny, his accuracy was dead-on, and the panel smashed. The letters changed to SHEILD DOWN.

Outside, the green, transparent shield surrounding the Maldum base slowly disappeared.

"He did it!" Vundeter yelled with happiness and surprise. "Danny did it! He got the shield down! All troops, head in!"

Vundeter led all the Esceron grunts inside the base to attack and be as destructive as possible. As Vundeter led the last troop in, Raschenda stayed outside and stared at the base. She couldn't help but think Danny was in a dangerous situation. (which he was)

"Danny…" Raschenda quietly said. "Don't die."


	30. Final Fight: Last Part

Danny ducked, just narrowly missing a blast of ectoplasmic energy that Myrus fired at his head. If Danny's head was literally half an inch higher, he would be dead.

Myrus was being quite a strong adversary for Danny. Myrus was moving with lightning quick speed, and if Danny didn't keep his wits about him, he wouldn't last long in the fight. Not only that, but Myrus seemed to be able to blast powerful amounts of energy in the blink of an eye, including the Ectoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing ray.

Danny finally got a quick opportunity to blast some ectoplasmic energy at Myrus. He fired some energy at Myrus, but Myrus countered by blasting the EMV ray at Danny's blast. The two collided and Danny's blast was sent flying back at him. Danny got knocked in the stomach by his own blast. He got sent flying back against the wall, almost unconscious. He moaned as Myrus flew over him and landed right in front of him in less than a second.

The dark, now destroyed looking room went completely silent. The only sounds that could be heard was Danny's heavy breathing as Myrus stared, watching Danny suffer and moan in pain after his own blast recoiled and hit him. Everything in the room was destroyed: the computer, the walls, and the door. (the door was blasted and a huge gaping hole was in it) Only one thing wasn't destroyed, and that was the machine Myrus hooked himself up to to give himself the EMV ray ability.

Finally, after letting Danny just breathe heavily and be in pain for about thirty seconds, Myrus grabbed both sides of Danny's face with one hand and tilted it up towards him.

"Danny Phantom, this is where your book ends and mine begins," Myrus said. "I wanted to recruit you to be a great soldier in my army and to learn how it feels to be feared and powerful."

Danny groaned and let out a slight cough before finally being able to talk. "Your plan is so flawed and shallow that it couldn't even be used in a _Winnie the Pooh_ movie."

Myrus chuckled at that remark. "I hope you enjoyed making that wise crack, because it's going to be your last."

Myrus lifted up his free hand and raised it above Danny's head slightly, but pointed his open palm downwards so Danny was staring right into it. As soon as he did that, Myrus started forming a green ball of energy in his hand: the Ectoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing ray.

"My era of glory and peace will begin with your death," Myrus said coldly. His face never looked so evil and malicious. 'Good-bye, Danny Phantom."

Danny squeezed his eyes shut, expecting to be blasted and then turn literally into a million pieces. Instead, he heard another blast and Myrus screamed in pain. Myrus dropped Danny's face and Danny dropped to the ground.

After moaning slightly, he looked up and saw a gaping hole in the wall, the spot where Myrus's EMV ray hit. He looked around and saw that Raschenda and Vundeter had come in through the hole in the door and were able to stop Myrus just as he was about to finish Danny.

Danny watched in horror as he saw Raschenda and Vundeter struggling to dodge all of Myrus's blasts and quick speed. Danny could tell they weren't going to last long; they just didn't have the same speed and reflexes as Danny did.

Then Danny glanced around and saw the machine Myrus was hooked up to that gave Myrus the EMV ability. Danny turned his eyes to Raschenda and Vundeter and saw that they wouldn't last much longer.

Without thinking, Danny flew over to the machine at over one 190 miles an hour and didn't waste any time. He started strapping himself into it and hooking up all the wires to himself that he thought he had to. When they were all equipped and strapped in, Danny looked around and saw a switch. He pulled it without thinking. He instantly felt what looked like a massive charge going through his body. He started shaking violently, and when the noise and machine finally died down, Danny started to un-strap himself. It was then that he noticed his hands were glowing a gentle shade of green, very similar to the shade of green that the ball of energy was in Myrus's hand when he was ready to cast an EMV ray.

Danny pointed his hand at a wall and checked to make sure it would work. He conjured up his most power and launched a blast of energy at the wall. At that moment, a giant hole appeared in the wall, as if it were a piece of paper with a hole that was formed by a drop of acid.

"Yes! I got the Ectoplasmic Molecula…whatever he calls it," Danny said. He looked over and saw Raschenda and Vundeter clearly exhausted. Myrus blasted both of them and knocked them against the wall. They were breathing heavily and couldn't seem to be able to move. Both of them looked like they were ready to collapse from physical abuse and exhaustion.

Myrus walked over to both of them, neither being able to do a thing. They looked up in pain and sorrow as they saw Myrus walking towards them.

"Well, I'm not surprised that I beat you," Myrus said in a nasty, snobby way. "But I thought the two leaders of the Esceron army would give me a greater fight than that. That was just pathetic! You didn't _let_ me win, did you?"

Raschenda and Vundeter didn't say anything. They could move and run if they wanted, but they didn't because Myrus would blast them to pieces if they even lifted a finger.

"Well, I guess this is the end," Myrus said. He held out both of his hands and pointed his palms at each of their faces. "This is how it ends for Raschenda and Vundeter, the most competent soldiers in the Esceron army, the ones who had Danny Phantom on their side and still couldn't win.

Danny didn't spend another second watching. He jumped right in front of Myrus just as he was about to vaporize Raschenda and Vundeter. He fired his own EMV ray out of both his hands at Myrus.

The two EMV rays collided, surprising both Danny and Myrus. Danny and Myrus were firing their own EMV rays at each other, but the two rays collided and were clashing. During the clash, a bright yellow light formed where the two were colliding, like a giant spark. Fierce winds were blowing from the center towards Myrus and Danny. Danny struggled not to lose concentration as the fierce winds sent his snow-white hair flying backwards as if he were in the middle of a hurricane. He had a clear look of determination on his bruised, battle-worn face.

Danny managed to turn away while still firing his ray and looked at Raschenda and Vundeter. "Both of you…escape. NOW!" Danny yelled.

"No!" Raschenda yelled. "You won't make it if we leave you here like this!"

"That's right!" Vundeter insisted. "We're going to fight Myrus too! If you're keeping him from attacking like that, we'll have an easy shot at him!"

Myrus was now evidently nervous. Yes, with Myrus and Danny's EMV blasts colliding, Myrus was able to hold Danny off, but he had no protection against Raschenda or Vundeter. They could blast him easily.

Realizing this, Myrus made a run out of the room and towards the center of the floor outside. The elevator was sitting right there, and Myrus ran in it as fast as he could and slammed the door shut. Danny and the two Escerons caught up in no time, but the elevator Myrus was in was starting to go up. What was worse was that Myrus activated a shield around the elevator, creating a shield impenetrable to Ghost Zone inhabitants.

"Myrus is going to get away!" Vundeter yelled. "What do we do now?"

The three thought hard, then without saying anything, Danny turned to Raschenda and Vundeter.

"Did your soldiers make it in all right?" he asked with a look of hope in his face.

"Yes," Raschenda said. "They are battling the Maldum troops as we speak."

"Okay, not to sound bossy or anything, but go and fight with them!" Danny yelled. "Help your troops finish off the Maldums while I go take care of Myrus."

"How can you battle Myrus?" Raschenda asked. "He is higher up now, and he's in an elevator that is shielding us out."

"_You_ guys can't get in, but I can!" Danny yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Vundeter demanded.

"I'm a only _half_ ghost, remember?" Danny said. "If that elevator is only impenetrable to your kind, then I should still be able to get in!"

"It's worth a shot," Raschenda said.

Danny started flying up in the air, chasing after the elevator as fast as he could. When he finally got up, he tried to stick his hand through the green, transparent shield that surrounded it. His hand went through, meaning he could get in.

Danny looked back down at Raschenda and Vundeter.

"Help your troops!" he yelled.

Without saying anything, Raschenda and Vundeter ran to the bottom of the base.

Danny floated into the elevator and gave Myrus quite a surprise when he got in.

"What?" Myrus yelled. "How did you get in here? This shield blocks out _everything!_"

"Dude, you might want to consider getting a shield that keeps my kind out, too," Danny said snidely.

Meanwhile, Raschenda and Vundeter ran down to the bottom of the base. The Esceron and Maldum Grunts and soldiers were clashing together violently; it was just like something you'd see from a _Lord of the Rings_ movie during one the intense battle scenes.

"Well, Danny told us to fight them," Raschenda said. "So, let's go!"

Raschenda and Vundeter joined into the fray and began blasting all the Maldum troops that they could see, and they showed no mercy. The fight was extremely loud, and people were just blindly firing. No one seemed to know whether or not a blast of energy or another troop was going to attack them, because the entire fight was just so chaotic.

Raschenda and Vundeter did their best to hold off and demolish any Maldum troops in their way. Meanwhile, Danny and Myrus began to duke it out in the elevator.


	31. Almost

Danny ducked as he dodged Myrus's blow. They were both in a small, cramping elevator, and they were taking violent swings at each other and occasionally firing blasts of ectoplasmic energy. (but in a small elevator, that was dangerous)

"Hey, Myrus, how you about you actually try to hit me instead of just swinging in mid air?" Danny yelled, trying to make Myrus as heated as possible.

As soon as Danny made that remark, Myrus blasted the EMV at Danny's head, and Danny was able to move out of the way just in time.

"Go back to swinging," Danny said as he dodged it. He didn't waste any time after that; he immediately fired his own EMV at Myrus.

Myrus jumped out of the way of that just in time, and the remainder of the long elevator ride up was nothing except vicious and savage punches and blows aimed for each other. When the elevator finally stopped, Myrus and Danny jumped out of the elevator and started fighting as if there were no limits.

Myrus fired some ectoplasmic energy at Danny with so much speed Danny had no time to react. He got blown back against a wall, but regained his focus in a matter of moments. He saw that Myrus was ready to fire the EMV at him, but Danny did a quick roll away from the wall and the blast left a gaping hole where Danny had been the moment before.

Danny shot up into the air and started firing ectoplasmic energy from his hands as if they were coming from a machine gun. All the blasts came so close to hitting Myrus that he had to keep jumping to avoid all the energy blasts.

"Wow, Myrus, you sure can dance!" Danny yelled as he kept firing. However, it wasn't long before that began to exhaust him. Myrus took advantage of the opportunity and fired an EMV ray at Danny. Danny had to put up a ghost shield fast, and the EMV ray just dissolved as it hit the shield.

Danny tried to get up, but Myrus fiercely ran over and gave Danny a hard blow to the head. Danny got knocked to the ground in pain, but it wasn't long before Myrus grabbed Danny by the hair and pulled his head up. He gave Danny another solid hit to the head, this time almost rendering Danny unconscious.

Myrus was about to fire a third and decisive smash to Danny's head, but Danny pulled his arm up and was able to stop Myrus's fist in mid air. Danny used his free hand to get an EMV ray ready, but before he could fire it, Myrus used his free hand to hit Danny in the head again.

"_I'm gonna really need some Advil after this fight,"_ Danny thought to himself as Myrus beat him. Finally, Danny just had enough. He focused all his power and flew into the air with as much force and velocity as he could.

Danny's plan worked. He shot up in the air and was able to smash Myrus into the ceiling when he went up. Myrus didn't take long to regain himself, and the savage brawl began again between the two.

Danny wasn't having a lot of luck holding Myrus off, but luckily for him, Raschenda and Vundeter were doing a good job of putting the Maldum troops in their place. Without Myrus there to help Maldum soldiers and to fight for them, the fight was almost a pushover for the two Esceron leaders.

"Do you think Danny is handling Myrus all right?" Vundeter asked hopefully as he and Raschenda continually blasted any Maldum troops that came their way.

"We can only put our faith in him," Raschenda replied with no emotion.

The fight was really a breeze for both of them, because while their soldiers went in and did all the violent stuff, Raschenda and Vundeter just blasted any Maldum troops that they saw. They hardly had to break a sweat for this battle. It looked like this part of the fight would fall the Escerons' way.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Danny. He had to use every bit of his strength to keep up Myrus's seemingly inhuman power. Myrus was extremely fast, and Danny couldn't let his guard down for one second if he wanted to stay alive.

Now, Danny and Myrus were fighting on a stretched floor. It was at the very top of the base, only about four feet wide, and there was a fall over two-hundred feet high if one of them were to accidentally slip and fall. The blasts and screams echoed down the long shaft as Danny and Myrus fought with all their might.

As Danny and Myrus fought as hard as they could, they both began showing clear signs of fatigue and wearing down. However, neither one of them acted like the exhaustion was getting to them.

"What's the matter, Danny?" Myrus said in a sick, twisted way about ten minutes into their fight. "You can't be getting tired already?"

"And you can't actually land a good punch already?" Danny said, trying to think of the wittiest thing to say back to him. But, he was focusing too hard on staying alive now to think of puns.

The fight was becoming more intense now. Even though the action and speed slowed from the beginning, the heavy breathing from both combatants made the fight more intimidating.

Both Myrus and Danny stopped temporarily. They were having a standoff and stared at each other for a while. It wasn't long, though, before Myrus fired an EMV ray at Danny and Danny had to throw himself on the ground so it wouldn't hit him.

Danny didn't spend any time at all getting up. He shot up in the air and tried firing his own EMV at Myrus. Sadly for Danny, Myrus took a huge leap back and completely missed the ray. The ray hit the floor, leaving a huge hole in the center of the narrow floor. Now, the only way Myrus and Danny could reach each other is if one of them jumped across the hole.

Danny took this opportunity to fire a heavy blast at Myrus, and it knocked Myrus to the ground with little effort.

"Ha!" Danny yelled. He began to load up his Ectoplasmic Molecular Vaporizing Ray and tried to fire it at Myrus, ready to finish him once and for all. But as soon as he was ready to finish Myrus off, Danny heard a huge slam on the floor behind him and a deafening shriek.

He turned around quickly and saw the Green shape-shifting dragon right behind him, the last one alive. It must have saw Myrus was struggling to beat Danny and decided it should try to help.

Danny made a few quick dodges as the dragon swiped at him with its claws. It wasn't long before he just got tired of it.

"You know what? The heck with this!" Danny yelled as the dragon continued making vain swipes at his head. "This thing can't hit me to save its life, so I'll just end it _for_ him!"

Danny charged up his EMV ray and didn't take another second. He launched it right into the dragon's abdomen. Less than a second later, the dragon turned a bright shade of green. It screeched in pain and took a step backwards, and then it broke into literally millions of tiny green pieces. The glowing green molecules that made up that dragon four seconds ago were now hovering in the air, and then softly went out.

Danny was happy that the last of the shape-shifting dragons were dead, but he didn't pay any attention to it. He turned around and saw Myrus getting up. Even though he only had about ten seconds without fighting, Myrus looked like he was charged up again.

"Impressive!" Myrus yelled. "That was the last of my dragons! Your molecules can join with it!"

Myrus, in a fit of rage, ran over to the hole in the floor and jumped it. Danny was shocked at how far Myrus could jump, because Myrus didn't come anywhere near close to missing the jump.

The two continued to fight and throw punches at each other in a violent way, but Raschenda and Vundeter were meanwhile were still being successful in bringing the Maldum troops to their knees.

"Vundeter, it looks like over half the troops have either surrendered or are defeated," Raschenda said. "How much longer until it's safe to try to find Danny and make sure he's okay?"

"It depends," Vundeter said. "Do you _think_ he's fine?"

Raschenda didn't answer.

Danny was really beginning to get tired. He kept attacking Myrus the best he could, but Myrus always seemed to be a step ahead of him. Whatever Danny could do, Myrus quickly found a way to counter it and to do it better.

In no time, Danny was on the ground. He struggled to get up, but all Myrus did was kick him in the stomach and slam him back into the metal floor. Danny moaned in pain after all the abuse he had taken. He knew he couldn't hold out much longer.

"Danny, Danny, Danny…" Myrus said. "When will you learn that I am the more powerful of us? Am I going to have to destroy you to prove that?"

"I don't know, I've always been the better as long as I can remember," Danny replied, still struggling to get up. But every time he tried, Myrus just gave him another hard slam into the floor.

"This time, you're going to _die_," Myrus said, forming a ball of EMV energy in his hand. He pointed it at Danny's head. "It's too late for regrets…"

Danny had to do some quick thinking. He looked ahead of him and saw the giant gap in the floor, and he also saw Myrus was ready to blast something that could dissolve the floor, and there was a foot or two in between them. If Danny could just find some way to get Myrus to accidentally blast the part of the floor in between them, it would…yes!

Danny only had one shot at this. Just as Myrus was ready to fire the killing ray at Danny, Danny pushed Myrus's ankle away from him, hoping it would knock Myrus off balance and cause him to tumble onto the floor, and have his EMV ray fire downwards as well.

Danny had the greatest luck in the world at that time, because his plan worked. By pushing Myrus's ankle away from him, Myrus couldn't stay stable and fell forward. However, he fired his EMV ray accidentally as he fell, and the ray fired at the floor.

The ray hit the narrow patch of floor in between Danny and Myrus, which is exactly what Danny hoped for. Now, Myrus was standing in _between_ both patches of the floor that got dissolved, so the part of the floor Myrus was on was disconnected from the other parts of the floor. The disconnected part of the floor started falling immediately, and Myrus started falling with it.

Danny looked down and saw Myrus falling down the long drop. However, instead of waiting for Myrus to smash to the floor hundreds of feet below, Danny fired his own EMV at Myrus. The ray hit Myrus dead on, and Myrus turned bright green. All his molecules instantly started breaking apart, and soon, his glowing molecules disappeared into thin air.

Danny was breathing heavily as he saw Myrus get destroyed. He just stared down the fall for what seemed like forever, before he eventually sat down on the floor and caught his breath.

Danny didn't realize how beat-up he looked. He saw his jumpsuit had been torn in quite a few places, his face was full of bruises and cuts, his snow-white hair looked like it was wet and dried out in a fast-blowing wind, and his entire body ached.

"It's over," Danny thought as he realized what just happened. Cobaark was dead; Myrus was dead; the three dragons were dead; he had all his powers back.

Yes, it was over. Almost.


	32. A New Hero

Danny could hardly believe it. The one responsible for the suffering and torment and stress he had been through over the past week was gone. Danny looked down the long fall that Myrus just tumbled from, and he realized that any trace molecules of Myrus were all gone.

"It's over," Danny repeated. His tired, heavy voice seemed to echo as it bounced off the walls to the empty, destroyed room. He even started laughing for some reason. He was just happy the entire ordeal was over. Almost.

Then, a revelation suddenly struck him: Raschenda and Vundeter! Were the two leaders of the Esceron army okay? He hoped he wasn't too late to save them.

Conjuring up what strength he had left, Danny bolted down to the lower part of the base where the battle was taking place. To his pleasant surprise, he saw that Raschenda and Vundeter were doing fairly well, holding off the Maldum troops.

"Danny!" Raschenda yelled.

"Ghost boy! Are you okay?" Vundeter asked anxiously. "What happened? Are you okay? Where's Myrus!"

"Myrus had to split," Danny joked. "Hey, look what I can do!"

Danny started charging an Ectoplasmic Vaporizing Blast and didn't waste another second. He began firing it at several of the remaining Maldum troops who were still fighting. Rashcenda and Vundeter stared in awe as Danny melted away the Maldum troops with no trouble at all.

"How did you get that?" Vundeter asked.

"Uh…kind of a long story," Danny replied, not wanting to go into detail. Raschenda and Vundeter left it at that, knowing Danny wasn't in any mood to tell them about how he got some powers. As far as they were concerned, if he had powers and was using it for their good, then that was all that was important.

Raschenda and Vundeter beat a few more Maldum soldiers, but the majority of the rest were taken care of by Danny and his EMV ray. After all the trouble the Maldums had caused him, he felt good knowing that he was getting his revenge.

In no time, the remaining Maldums were defeated or were forced to surrender. Raschenda and Vundeter planned on holding the Maldums prisoner and trying to convince them to join the Esceron army. (Vundeter was excited about this for obvious reasons)

As soon as they surrendering Maldums were beaten, everyone flew out of the Maldum base. From the outside of it, you couldn't tell that a vicious battle had been fought inside. And Danny wasn't ready to let anyone find out about it.

As Raschenda and Vundeter began to float away, Danny began charging up a huge blast of EMV. When it was fully charged, he began firing it at the Maldum base. As soon as the ray hit the wall, he began tearing through the rest of the base with it; it was like carving a thanksgiving turkey with a cutting laser.

After a while, the entire Maldum base began splitting apart and disappearing into millions of tiny molecules. Danny watched in glee as he saw the base begin to disappear. After the entire thing was gone, he flew back the Esceron base.

He walked in, and he found that everything was disturbingly quiet. He expected the Escerons to be celebrating their victory over the Maldums, but there were none in sight. He started looking around the base, and he checked one of the rooms that he hadn't seen in a long time. It was a wide room with nothing really in it. Danny walked in and was surprised with what he saw.

As he opened the door, he saw all the Esceron soldiers who made it through the battle standing in an orderly fashion to create an aisle that went to the front of the room. (it looked pretty similar to the end of the first _Star Wars_ movie) As he walked in, everyone started applauding for him. Danny looked to the front of the room and at the end of the soldier-made aisle, Raschenda was standing. And for the first time ever, Danny saw that she was actually smiling.

Danny walked down the aisle with a huge grin on his face as all the Escerons were cheering for him and clapping their hands. He walked closer to Raschenda, and as soon as he was right in front of her, Raschenda signaled the Esceron grunts to stop cheering.

As the applauding died down, Raschenda began speaking.

"Danny, you have demonstrated great courage and decision making in this war," she said. "Now with Myrus and Cobaark defeated, maybe the Escerons can finally get a well deserved break."

"It was really nothing," Danny replied humbly. "I was just doing what I do. You know."

Raschenda didn't say anything. "Well, we are very grateful for your help, but I think you've deserved your break as well."

"No kidding," Danny said. "The worst part is that it's a school night tonight, and I got to make up that _Romeo and Juliet_ test sometime…"

"Well, you've performed wonderfully," Raschenda said. "Now you even have enhanced powers, so you won't have to fight your enemies with so much trouble anymore."

"Yeah. I look forward to giving the next ghost who bothers me a good butt-whooping," Danny replied.

"Well, I'd say you've earned your break," Raschenda continued. "I'm sure Vundeter would thank you if he was here, but he's busy trying to get Maldum troops to join our side. He said he was going to do it the 'hard way'."

"Poor guys," Danny said. "Well, that's just about it for me. If you ever need me, you know where to find me! Just next time, let me finish my homework first."

Saying this, he started flying out of the Esceron Base and back to the portal that led to his home. He flew through it, and never before was he so happy to be there.

"It's all over…" Danny thought. He was in a peaceful state of mind until his dad came bolting down the stairs to the basement. He was yelling "Danny! Danny!" as he come thundering down.

Danny quickly reverted back to his human form just as his dad came into view.

"Danny!" Jack Fenton yelled with a look of excitement on his face. "I just finished fixing the Fenton Thermos!"

Danny sighed in an exasperated way. "That would have been extremely useful a little while ago!" he yelled.

"Why, did you finish your gopher project without it?" Jack asked.

"Gopher project?" Danny asked in a confused way. "Oh, yeah…_that_ gopher project. Yeah, I got it done."

"Well, I hope you did well on it!" Jack yelled. "Well, here you go!"

He threw the Fenton Thermos to Danny and Danny caught it in his arms. He watched as his dad ran back up the stairs to do who-knows-what.

"Well, so much for that," Danny set, throwing the Fenton Thermos to the side. He ran up to his room and plopped down on the bed. Never before had it felt so comfortable. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep, but he was way too overtired to even keep his eyes closed.

"You know what?" Danny said to himself as he realized he couldn't sleep. "I'm a mess. I'm going to go take a bath."

Danny trotted over to the bathroom and started filling up the tub with warm water. Just when it was the right temperature, he was ready to get in. Unfortunately for him, just as he was getting in, his ghost sense went off.

A look of complete frustration appeared on Danny's face. "Oh, great! Well, there's another one to take care of. I'm going ghost!"

Danny turned into Danny Phantom once again and looked for the ghost.

**END**

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Author's Note:

Well, this is the end of _Split Decisions._ I hope you all liked reading it, because I sure had a lot of fun writing it. Thank you to MasterofProcastination, enigmaticpenguin, GhostWulf, Christoph and kittyfenton for reviewing this story as I went along. And a VERY special thanks to MasterofProcastination for drawing a fanart of this story, and then drawing _another_ one. Thank you for that.

Well, it took me about four or five days to completely outline this story from Chapter 1 to Chapter 32, and it took me two and a half months to completely write it all. Writing this had become part of my daily schedule, and I'm somewhat relieved that it's over. However, I had a _lot_ of fun writing this, and I'm happy with the reviews I got of people saying that this was awesome and begging me to update. You guys have no idea how much I liked getting positive feedback with no flames or anything.

But, now _Split Decisions _is over. Like I said, I enjoyed writing it, but that time is over. Thank you again for reviewing this story over and over with every chapter; calling a story of mine awesome and great is something that's never happened to me before, and I appreciate it.

_-Velkan the Impaler_

_Thursday, February 09, 2006_

_3:48 p.m. EST_


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